Isolation Day 90

Glory of glories today!! Youngest son made the journey from Cambridge to visit us and we didn’t know anything about it until he arrived!! I was just about to settle Mum into a chair in the garden, following her perambulations this afternoon, when the doorbell rang. I was a bit flustered and wondered who it could possibly be on a Sunday afternoon. And there he was, standing grinning at the front door.

Well, you know me, never one to overreact….. my eyes lit up and my own grin mirrored his as I sped round the side of the house to let him into the back garden. As he walked in through the side gate, I was jumping up and down, squealing with excitement and all the love I have for him, pouring out in bucket loads. I could hardly contain myself!!

I gestured for him to go down to the ‘man-shed’ where John was busily inspecting his garage door aperture. I ran into the house to grab the cushions for Mum to sit on and raced back again, listening all the time to John’s delight on seeing Andrew home. What a buzz! What a feeling.

We had such a lovely afternoon. The sun shone on us, as we sat so companionably in the garden for hours. We didn’t want to let him go, of course, so John asked him if he’d like to stay to eat. Of course, he’d like to stay to eat!! He sat one end and we sat the other at the dining table on the patio, and then we chased the sun round until it started to dip behind the houses and it shone on us no more. It really was time to go.

The glorious afternoon was made all the more glorious when Paul turned up with Freddie. Andrew had said they might, but I didn’t believe him as they are always so busy in their household, so didn’t hold my breath. But, sure enough, there he was. Another beauty with his offspring in my garden. Michael also phoned – his cheeky grin telling us that he knew all about the secret plan all along. Thank you, Lord.

All in all, it’s been an unexpectedly good day. I hadn’t anticipated anything other than the ‘same, same’ we’ve been experiencing recently but, honestly, I couldn’t have written a better script if I’d been writing it myself.

Being Sunday, I had intended to ‘go to church’ first thing, although I didn’t in the end. I felt guilty about that. I did make it to the ‘Zoom’ coffee meet-up afterwards and had a great three-quarters of an hour chit-chatting away to everyone and feeling uplifted by some of the comments that were made. Specifically, about how not to feel guilty…..well, that was a coincidence, wasn’t it?

Mum managed to winkle herself out of bed after I had ‘Zoomed’ and sort her own breakfast out at mid-day. A little while later, I suggested she have a walk in the garden, at which she turned her nose up. She peered out of the window and sniffed. “I’ve just got settled to watch my programmes.” she said. “It’ll be nice.” I urged. “I’ve still got to drink my tea.” she countered – as if that were the clincher and there was no more to be said. “Well, drink your tea then, Mum, while I go and find your socks.” *Mum promptly scuttles down the hallway and hides in the loo*

We did have a nice walk in the garden of course and, guess what? She thoroughly enjoyed it!! I have witnesses…….. She was, however, confused as to who Andrew might be. She politely and cautiously said hello to this apparent stranger, as any well-brought up girl would do. Andrew said, “Do you remember who I am?” She wasn’t sure. “It’s Andrew.” he said, and then, teasingly, “I bet you thought I was Graham, didn’t you?” She nodded and replied “Yes.” Later on, she thought he might be Michael? Ah well, she kept it in the family anyway.

In other news, John has been furkling about preparing the aperture to the man-shed, ready to fit the garage door. We were a bit like ships in the night as he went out the back door and back in through the patio door while I tried to catch up with him at the wrong door every time. Eventually, I found him at his desk perusing the Wickes’ website. He was looking at wood. I burst out laughing. “Don’t tell me you’re ordering wood?” He looked sheepish. He was. Oh, the irony. We have only just waved goodbye to a skip full of the stuff that he couldn’t wait to see the back of……

We had another unexpected visitor today, too. Margaret called, bearing gifts. She recognised the low mood I was feeling so brought me a little bag of pampering goodies. “Make some time for you.” she reminded me for the umpteenth time. There’s no excuse now, of course. Thank you, Margaret.

And finally, Harriet had WhatsApped us to remind us that it was ‘Family Quiz Night’ tonight. We thought, in all probability, that we wouldn’t participate this evening. Me, because it feels like I don’t have two brain cells to rub together and John, because he really is feeling a bit knackered. “Let’s let her know a bit later on whether we’re going to join in or not, when we know how we feel.” I suggested. Good idea, John thought.

As the day wore on, we were more and more inclined to think we might not join in – we were so involved with youngest son that time went by without us noticing. Soon, it was nearly 8.30. “Oh, no! I didn’t let Harriet know what we were doing.” I said, a bit panic-stricken that I could be so rude. Fortunately, it transpired that we were not due to start until 8.30 anyway. John was definitely too tired. I thought I’d just join in for a short while – show willing, you know? But, in the end, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a great quiz and, although I was last but one when we ran the scores, I didn’t mind. George had patted me on the head at the start, much to my amusement, and said, teacher-like, “Just do your best, Anne.” Well, I had done my best and I was pleased with what I did know rather than disappointed by what I didn’t.

We are still shielding and being very, very cautious, but today’s figures suggest the virus is still slowing, with 1,514 people infected as of 5 p.m. yesterday, and 36 people having died in all settings. The NHS reports 4 deaths for the same period, with 29 having been confirmed for the day before.

Let’s pray for the trend to continue downwards and for people, wherever or whoever they are, to find wisdom in their hearts and their behaviours. God bless.