Month: July 2020

Panic over. Paul doesn’t have COVID-19. Just a cold. Which he probably caught from Freddie, who has also been poorly. Although just having a summer cold can make you feel lousy, I am on top of the world to know that he hasn’t got the dreaded lurgy!! (Does a little skip!).

As you would expect, my thoughts are with all those who do have the virus now, and there seem to be quite a few hot spots, with Sandwell on the brink of a local lock down; Greater Manchester in a local lock down from midnight tonight, as well as some parts of West Yorkshire.

We knew flare-ups would happen of course, but I was keeping everything crossed that it wouldn’t, and that people would properly distance, wear their masks, wash their hands etc to keep the pesky virus at bay. So I am saddened that there are new outbreaks, and pray that each and every infectee gets over it without a fatal outcome or lasting side effects.

The government tells us that there have been 38 deaths today in all settings and 4 in a hospital setting, which offers us a glimmer of hope but, there are 846 people confirmed as infected, which seems to snatch the hope away again, as this is the highest figures for weeks. ‘Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water……’

In other news, we were up with the lark, and (particularly John) raring to go. We gathered up all sorts of bits and pieces – me: food and crockery and stuff like that; John: tools and equipment and that sort of stuff. Loaded the car, set the co-ordinates to Sutton Coldfield and……. baby-minding and ‘man-shed’ building, here we come! Bubble, bubble, bubble.

Thus, the day was spent using some of our respective skills. John got on with the ‘man-shed’, ably supported by William, who asked a lot of ‘why?’ questions, and generally gave a running commentary on every activity undertaken; and I got on with ‘keeping house’ and baby/child-minding to ensure Danielle had the rest she needed for her recuperation, and Michael had the space he needed to work upstairs. And it was a great, and very rewarding, day.

The ‘man-shed’ work was physically hard, mind you. Nevertheless, John gritted his teeth and determinedly shifted planks of wood from one end of the garden to the other and began building. I helped to shift one or two of the heavier pieces for a nano-second, but for pretty much all of it John managed it on his own. So I was pleased for him. See? He’s not past it after all.

Michael emerged from his office at about half past four, declaring that he wasn’t doing any more work, having been closeted there all day with not much more than a twenty-five minute break. So the pair of them carried on carting pieces of wood from front to back of the house, then building and building. In the end, I had to drag John away. He’d have been there all evening if I’d let him! I mean, he’s got to go back and do some more tomorrow. No peace for the wicked. Tee-hee.

The day whizzed by for me and I am not sure exactly what I achieved, except that I know all members of the household were happy, cheerful, entertained, well-fed and watered, and had rested as much as they needed. That’s a result – no?

We’ll be back tomorrow – more ‘man-shed’ work and more respite for she who is convalescing. And it threatens to be a glorious day, albeit a touch hot, so we might get the paddling pool out.

Take care everyone – remember: ‘Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water……’ and may God bless you all.

We have decided that since we have been able to see the Sutton Sleaths inside, because they’ve been isolating, we must have formed a ‘bubble’. Consequently, when we got the call to go over to their house to support them today because Danielle is still not feeling 100%, we were very happy to oblige. We had planned to go over, in any case, garden-wise, because Michael was taking delivery of a ‘man-shed’ and John wanted to be there to see it arrive – and help move the pieces, if he could.

So, we made an early start, and made it in good time to their house, ready for a trip to the hospital to check out the infection Danielle has picked up. Michael stayed home on a conference call for an assessment by his supervisors on how his ‘virtual’ placement is going; Grandpa also stayed home to play with William; and I drove Danielle and Thomas down to the hospital. Danielle hopped out of the car and I drove round a bit with Thomas, fingers crossed that he’d go to sleep – which he did, much to my relief. I mean, a yelling baby in the back of a car is never much fun, is it?

It wasn’t long before Danielle had been seen, discharged and, everyone suitably sanitised, we were driving home again. Keep on with the antibiotics, rest, keep the wound clean and it’ll soon clear up, they told her. With a husband at work and two kids to look after, the advice is difficult to keep going, especially the resting part, so John and I were delighted to be able to look after William, as well as Thomas when he wasn’t feeding.

And it transpires that we’re planning to do it all over again tomorrow! With the arrival of the ‘man-shed’ John has got quite excited about putting it together. He brought the instructions home with him this evening and has pored over them to make sure he knows exactly what to do. In fact, he’s been so excited about the arrival of the shed, that he set to, to see if he could lay another slab for the base today.

He did better than that. He laid a whole row of the things!! Obviously, he was feeling much stronger than he was the other day when he managed one slab, and only thought about laying a second. He’s done incredibly well. A bit out of puff, but very satisfied with himself.

Being in the company of the Sutton Sleaths has brought into sharp focus the fact that we are not in the company of our other sons, whose lives are so much more out in the community at the moment. Andrew, who has started a new job, moved into a new flat and sometimes goes to the pub, isn’t able to isolate and therefore be in close proximity with us. In addition, he’s very busy and lives a good few miles away so a trip home is a bit of a marathon. Paul and Harriet have also been going into work, and Freddie into pre-school so, again, it’s still the ‘garden adventure’ or nothing.

Conscious that we hadn’t seen the Kenilworth Sleaths for a while, I got in touch to see if Paul could call in. Mum needs a new watch battery, so I was wondering if one of the family could take it to the jewellers for repair. No problem, says Paul, I’ll swing by………. only, hold that thought. I won’t swing by. I’ve got a cold….well, I’m going to get a test to make sure it’s not COVID-19….. so I’ll lockdown until I’ve got the result.

Ah, OK, I reply calmly. And then…..fingers crossed it’s not COVID…..(runs round like a headless chicken)….. and says a little prayer. It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine.

We may see Andrew at the weekend. Well, his weekend – Sunday or Monday. That is, if he can wrest himself from his bed. He says he hasn’t worked so hard for years and is feeling pretty knackered. (Am I allowed to say that?) On the other hand, having moved flat, he has got a lot of junk he’d like to offload into the Sleath Storage Unit……

We scampered home after our evening meal in Sutton, in time for our regular Centre Stage quiz. What a giggle we had again. Everyone was on top form, one way or another, and there were some laughs to be had when poor Nigel couldn’t get logged on properly and it sounded like he was sending submarine signals up to us all. I do love spending time with these people!! Even if we don’t always know the answers. I really must brush up on national flags…..

With the virus on my mind, I note that there have been 763 newly confirmed cases of infection and 83 associated deaths today in all settings, with two in hospital settings.

With the virus still prevailing in some parts of the country, albeit not quite so wide and deep as it was – a plea, dear friends – please take every precaution you can, lest it lurk close by. And may the dear Lord bless us all.

We thought we might take it easy today, one way or another, after our exertions yesterday but, although we did have a lie-in, we both busied ourselves in different ways.

John had started the hedge-trimming the other day and was keen to get on with finishing it, if he could. I wanted to finish sorting out Mum’s bits and pieces and then visit her in the flat to see how she was settling in. So, after a short morning, some of which was spent in bed contemplating whether we might spend the whole day in bed, we got up and got on.

John was also keen to get on with his car, but in the end, the pull of the outdoors was too great so off he went to do the hedge. I faffed about before finally setting off to visit Mum. I am not convinced Mum remembers how to use the phone, so I was a little anxious as to how she’d been managing. I had deliberately left her to settle in and get used to her new regime for a few days, as I know she’d be thinking back to being looked after by me otherwise.

As it turned out, she was as happy as Larry. She was sat, with her legs up in her new chair, delighted to see me and thrilled to bits with all the care that she’s been having. She was pleased to have the washing and ironing back that I’d done, saying she needed clean things, so that was hopeful that she was changing her clothes. The flat all looked in order and there didn’t seem to be any odd things in odd places, so I was very pleased for her that she’d settled back so well. The plumber had been in today to mend a leak under the sink, and she remembered that he’d been, so it’s all looking good.

Mum is a great ‘squirreler-away’ of things and, over the years, has kept documents and all sorts of correspondence. Mostly, I think, because she doesn’t quite know what to do with them and also because she’s afraid of throwing something important away. I fished out yet more booklets and papers from alongside her chair and started to go through them today. Mostly old catalogues from 2018, but also some old bank statements – from 1979……. I asked Mum why she was keeping them, but she didn’t know. I asked her if I could throw them out, but no, they’d be needed. What for, I wondered? Well, in case, after she died, there was any query, she offered. I reminded her that they were over forty years old and surely the tax man wasn’t going be interested after that length of time? But she was adamant she wasn’t going to relinquish them. Had to laugh! Might have to be a secret hatchet job……

When I got back from Mum’s I could hear an odd scraping noise, which I thought was coming from the garage, but after a while, I realised it wasn’t. It sounded more at the back of the house so I went to investigate. There was John, up a ladder, hauling out the jasmine that was aggressively ingressing the roof space. He was having a whale of a time. Not only had he done a cracking job on the hedge but had enough energy to start on the jasmine too. Mind you, he was too knackered to do much clearing up of the brash, so I cleared the jasmine detritus and we have left the hedge cuttings for another day.

All in all, a good day with things achieved, allowing us to sit back, kick our shoes off and watch TV with clear consciences this evening. One programme that I like to watch is ‘Our Yorkshire Farm’ and tonight’s episode didn’t disappoint. It is a cracking series about a couple, with nine children, farming in the remote hills of Yorkshire. Worth a watch if you like countryside programmes and not yet seen it.

Mum made no mention of the small picture on her TV today, so I am presuming she has got used to the size of her screen now, but she did say she was having a bit of trouble switching it on again. Once again, she’d switched it off at the plug. No wonder it wouldn’t work. She’d done the same with phone, too. Made me chuckle. I have now put labels on the switches telling her to leave them alone!

And, of course, I watched the news today, which isn’t awfully encouraging on the virus front, with a great kerfuffle over people’s holidays to Spain, and the uplift in cases. 119 deaths in all settings reported today by the government, with four deaths in a hospital setting yesterday; and 581 people are confirmed as having been tested positive for the virus today.

We know the drill now, which we will have to keep up for a while to come. No-one knows how long, but I think it’s going to be the new ‘norm’. Take care everyone. Peace be with you all.

To this day, we have been married 46 years. Haven’t quite caught up with some of our friends, yet we’re on a par with many others, and way ahead of several. Together, we have overcome all sorts of challenges along the way and had many, many great times. So, it’s an anniversary to savour.

We savoured it in the best way we know how – by not making a song and dance over it. We didn’t want to go in for the cards and gifts and reminding everyone it was coming up. We reminisced a bit, but we’re looking forward, not back, and we’re being in the present. That is what recent experience has reminded us. Just to be present and make the most of whatever the day would offer us.

And what an offering it was. We had suggested that, as Michael and Danielle had been isolating, they might come over for some TLC today. Michael is back at work, Danielle is not yet fully fit and, as we all know, a nearly three-year old and a baby and a dog is a lot to be looking after on your own when you’re feeling crook. They took us up on the offer, so we had a marvellous family day.

They were all very excited to be coming in. William in particular, raced in with sparkling eyes, thrilled to be at Grandma and Grandpa’s house again. It was as if they’d never been away. “Come on, Grandma, let’s go to the top of the house.” William said, as he led the way. Into the loft we went, to retrieve the baby toys for Thomas and have a mooch about, starting from the top of the house, working our way down. “Let’s see what else is interesting.” he said, as he ummed and ahhed over various toys and curiosities that were floating about.

Once back downstairs, out came all the toys and off we went, into the imaginary world of an almost three-year old. We zoomed here and there with toy aeroplanes, hovercrafts and cars; transformed into robots and stomped about; and nee-nawed around the lounge, saving lives. We got the tea-set out and drank many, many cups of ‘tea’ and filled casserole pots with velcro vegetables to make a ‘delicious’ stew, putting them in the ‘oven’. We climbed the stairs, peered through the bannister railings and came down again, on more than one occasion, and shone the torch on the glitter ball to sparkle up the ceiling.

In between times, there was Thomas to hold, or rock or sing to. Although, to be fair, Danielle did do most of that, but we were there if she needed a rest. We were very willing helpers because he’s a bundle of cuddliness.

While I got food ready at various points of the day, Grandpa was on hand to create a new story with William, or be ‘killed’ by the Star Wars saber over and over again. He got down on the floor to play with the cars and spent ages trying to mend a helicopter spinner, and then he sat with William on the sofa watching some cartoon or other in which the hero was assigned to ‘save the day’.

It was absolutely just what we needed. For Danielle, too, I think it was helpful as she was able to rest when Thomas was resting. Michael, poor man, spent all day working, however, closeted in the dining room and glued to his laptop, headphones on for the earnest conversations with fellow psychologists. We kept up a steady stream of cups of tea and cake, and he emerged at lunchtime for pizza before burying himself back in the world of work. But it was good to have him there, working from home.

I think we kept up pretty well. We all ate an evening meal together and opened a bottle of red wine to share, clinked our glasses for a happy anniversary toast before it was time to pack up and wave goodbye. William didn’t want to go and Michael backed the car up, window down, so that William could have one last wave to Grandma and Grandpa. As Michael drove off, all I could hear was William saying, “I don’t want to go……” We didn’t want them to go either, but what better way to spend an anniversary? It had been good.

We abandoned the tidying up, temporarily, after the family had left and sat on the sofas to watch a bit of TV before getting on again. Oh, but guess what? Within five minutes we were both fast asleep, snoozing our heads off!! It’s been a few months since we’ve had to use that much energy in one day! Need to get into training.

So…. shielding. We are still taking every precaution we can, but we are planning to try and live a little rather than hunkering down. I am still in the anxious and cautious category, but recognise that living isn’t just about keeping our front door shut for evermore.

In the meantime, seven people lost their lives to the virus today in all settings, and two in a hospital setting, whilst 685 people were confirmed as infected.

God bless. May your days ahead be good ones.

I know it’s Sunday, but I didn’t want it to be. I didn’t want to do church on-line this morning and I didn’t want to chit-chat to everyone on a ‘Zoom’ coffee either. Although I won’t be physically going back into church when it opens at the beginning of August, I felt disabled today by the lack of ‘going’ to church. It’s the first time I have felt like that. I have been enjoying the on-line services and catching up with fellow congregants but no, not today.

Instead, I stubbornly stayed in bed for a while, scrolling social media and sighing over the ‘to mask’ or ‘not to mask’ debate. The brigade that is saying ‘I’m not wearing a mask because I don’t want to’ and those patting them on the head and saying ‘there, there, you don’t have to if you don’t like it’ is making me angry. I suppose it’s the mixed message that is confusing everyone, and so I’m getting angry with government ministers too, now. All humanity is here revealed, and I’m not too keen on seeing the raw selfishness on display.

However, once I’d chuntered to myself a bit, I hoiked myself out of bed and faced the day with positivity. No point dwelling on it all – after all, there’s not much I can do here still wrapped up in cotton wool is there?

I chose to keep on, keeping on, with a bit of cleaning – things I hadn’t done so conscientiously when Mum was living here. And, of course, there was a mountain of washing after I’d changed every bit of linen in the ‘The Blue Room’ yesterday, which led me on to tidying the linen cupboard as well. Once in a blue moon, do I do that job!

When you’re in a tidying phase, though, there’s always a distraction, isn’t there? For me, it was books. Spent a very pleasurable half hour or so browsing my bookshelves and sorting them out into ‘books still to read’ and ‘books to re-visit’. Particularly poetry books. And I couldn’t help but dip into them, so was pleasantly side-tracked for a bit.

Despite my un-Sunday feeling, I watched Songs of Praise while I sorted out papers that I’d brought from Mums. She had a stack of them (three bags full) lurking alongside her chair which came to light when we installed the new all-singing, all-dancing one. Everything, bar one or two little collections, could be ditched. Found a set of old theatre programmes which I’ve kept, and a wallet full of letters from Graham, circa 2008.

John, meanwhile, although there was the threat of rain, decided he was going to trim the hedge which has started to grow like a Triffid, threatening to overwhelm the patio and pond. He’s done a grand job so far, but there’s the brash to clear up now, which is always hard work. Perhaps we’ll have a go at that tomorrow.

Once the ol’ man had done his stint on the hedge he sat down for a while to recuperate, before venturing into the kitchen to make paleo bread rolls. Instead of the recipe we’d been using, which asked for a ton of cashew nuts which we hadn’t got, he used a couple of different recipes – and both have turned out remarkably well. Good man.

Despite my determination to be positive, the day still felt uncomfortable, so I suggested to John that we watch a film as we sat and ate our evening meal on our laps again. We opted for a film that was released last year, called ‘Bad Education’, with Hugh Jackman. It was based on a true story, so we thought it would be good. And, in truth, it wasn’t a bad film, but it was slow. It suited my mood, however, but I was thirsty for more. This time, we chose ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’ – an action-packed film with an awful lot of violence and bad language – which we both sort of enjoyed. It helped bash the demons, anyway. Yes, a couple of films and a bar of chocolate – great soothers.

And what of the outside world? A bit of cricket, at which we seem to be doing quite well in the third Test; confusion as to whether it’s safe to travel to Spain and the government not sure if its own advice is right or not, plus great hilarity over the Secretary of State for Transport actually having travelled to Spain; and, here’s a new one: obesity. That’s a new focus…. just wondering whether I am cynical, and it’s a ploy to make us take our eye off a properly important story? Take your pick, of course – there are so many….

Still in the outside world, the COVID-19 figures are significantly down on yesterday, thankfully, with 14 deaths in all settings today and 747 people confirmed as infected. The NHS report tells us that one death was reported in a hospital yesterday. Relief all round, perhaps.

With the un-Sunday feeling still lingering, I didn’t light my Candle of Hope this evening either. But there’s always hope, for tomorrow is another day, and who knows what excitement it might bring? God bless, keep cheerful and, when you’re out and about, keep masked…….. please.

Mentally, we have been shifting to a mindset of: ‘we’ll be able to do one or two things soon, yippee!!’ but what do you reckon, folks, are we a bit premature? On average in the last week, the BBC tells me that 66 people have died every day from COVID-19. However, it doesn’t look like it’s too close to home, so……maybe, maybe. I mean, John is now so fed up that he’s keen to do anything to alleviate the situation. He’s not bored exactly, but he is itching to get out. Hence the repeated threat of visiting the motorists’ shop. Inevitably, there are going to be spikes of infection, but if we take every precaution then we might just get away with it…… watch this space.

Anyhoo… the ol’ man wasn’t really itching to go anywhere today other than his garage and to his beloved Lotus. More tinkering on the agenda. Although I am not quite sure what he tinkered with – something to do with a ‘crash pad’ on the dashboard, I think. Well, actually, I know. I pretend not to be terribly interested, but I do like to keep up. One of the bits was very mucky with all sorts of gunge, so he used a bit of elbow grease and some thinners to get it cleaned up, and it’s come up a treat. He’s dead pleased. I am, too – if he’s happy, so am I!!

We had a leisurely start this morning. I romped downstairs to meet Caroline, instead of Malcolm, on the path this morning to take delivery of a little bit of shopping, for which I am eternally grateful. It’s the fresh stuff that always catches me out. We do a bit of a specialist shop on-line, even order a few fresh ingredients then, half-way through the week, find we’re out of something quite key. For us, it’s often cauliflower. It might not sound great to you, but it really is delicious to serve up cauliflower rice, because John is steering clear of standard rice. And you can hardly order three cauliflowers all at one go, can you?? Our fridge is already bursting at the seams! Sweet potatoes are another thing that we run out of with regular monotony…… just wondering when we can be released to do our own sortie to the Co-op and grab those unexpected ‘out-of-stocks’.

I decided to read my book and enjoy e-puzzles this morning and so relaxed in bed until mid-day. I did get up and get cups of tea and put the shopping away, so it wasn’t all lazy, but mostly, it was. Because I can.

I also gave myself the willies this morning, by phoning Mum’s sheltered accommodation to find out why they had phoned yesterday. It turns out that Mum had been anxious about not having the patio door key (it’s a long story) and thought she couldn’t lock it up, so went knocking on neighbour’s doors for help. You never actually know the truth though, do you? The story started with the scenario that she had ‘been wandering the corridors and knocking on everyone’s doors late at night’. When I eventually drilled down into the story, it was two neighbours at seven o’clock in the evening. She might have been ‘wandering the corridors’ but somehow, I doubt it. Anyway, I think she has been spoken to.

On an entirely different note, one of the things that I am finding exceedingly irritating – and which I don’t think will change – is my inability to do anything at speed. At first, I just thought it was the lock down situation, sapping all my mental and physical energy, but I am beginning to wonder if it’s just because I am old. I know that decision-making – or the lack of it – has been related to being housebound, but I am not so sure about my physical speed now. I had confidently told John this morning that my plan for the afternoon was to clean ‘The Blue Room’, where Mum had been sleeping, and gradually work my way through the upstairs rooms and the landing. Save downstairs for tomorrow.

In reality, all I got done was ‘The Blue Room’. Admittedly, I literally cleaned every single surface. I tightened bolts on the bed, vacuumed the mattress, had all the drawers out of the cupboards, cleaned the windows, changed the bedding, including giving the duvet a good old beating hanging on the line outside and shampooed the carpet, but still….. I had been sure that I’d get further than one room today.

Despite the ‘one room’ situation, I was pleased with what I had done and was ready for our evening meal, which John and I prepared together. Then, once again, with the plates on our laps , we sat in the lounge and watched TV. Because we can. (Does a little dance)

Et voilá! There we have it, another day done and another one to look forward to. However, let’s think of those whose lives have been lost today from COVID-19 – 61 of them in all settings and 10 in a hospital setting on Thursday – as well as those who are battling the virus, at least 767 of them.

Keep up the good work of hand-washing, mask-wearing and social-distancing, folks. One day, those actions will help people like us get out and about again. God bless and peace be with you.

Turned out to be a very good day today. Had a lie-in, treated myself to my favourite breakfast of berries and yoghurt for breakfast before braving it to go and get a key cut for Mum’s patio door. Then I went out for a little toddle along the ‘Yellow Brick Road’, before coming back to sit in the garden for a lovely chat with Pete and Dawn for a couple of hours. The perfect morning really.

The weather was great, with the sun making its presence felt every so often when it was scorchingly hot, before hiding itself behind clouds and cooling down to a pleasant heat. Exciting to see Pete and Dawn in the flesh rather than on Skype, and we had a good old rant, put the world to rights and had a giggle all at the same time.

After they had left, I had a niggle that I had heard my phone ‘buzz’ while we were chatting, and had I missed a phone call? Yes, I had. It was Michael. He was studying, now that his paternity leave is over, and Danielle wasn’t feeling very well, so what did we think to the idea of going over and keeping William, at least, occupied in the garden for the afternoon? I never need asking twice. Yep, we’ll be there in about an hour…

And so, we whiled away a fabulous afternoon, playing all sorts of games with William and rocking the baby in the pram. The weather stayed very warm and we were well happy out on the decking and in William’s play house. Made us laugh in the play house, “You sit there, Grandma (or Grandpa, depending on who was there with him at the time) in the blue chair.” OK. Except our bottoms were just a bit too big for the chair of course, so we got stuck in it every time. Getting up to go out of the play house, the blue chair stayed attached to us and we needed William to give it a good old tug to set us free. Chuckle, chuckle.

John made himself useful while we were there, too. Michael is setting up some slabs at the bottom of the garden in readiness for the erection of a ‘man-shed’, so John thought he’d lay a couple to help out. After he’d done one, which was quite difficult to lay and get even, he thought he’d have a break and a cuppa. At which point he thought twice about laying the second one. Them slabs are heavy!!! And, anyway, a more cerebral challenge lay in store as he discussed the intricacies of what they should do with the front drive. Conclusion: no conclusion. It’s a BIG job…..

We left at tea-time, knowing that we had done a little something to relieve the situation for them. William wasn’t keen on us leaving and showed us a very sad little face and a wobbly bottom lip as he said goodbye. Tugged the ol’ heart strings, I can tell you.

We had a good run home along the M42 and, letting ourselves in through the front door, heard a ‘beeping’ coming from the answering machine. It was the warden at Mum’s sheltered accommodation. My heart sank. Could we phone them back, please? Well, it was too late by then, so it’ll have to wait until the morning, but I don’t think it can be anything serious as the carers had gone in this evening and left Mum happy and well by seven o’clock. Fingers crossed anyway.

We ate our evening meal on plates on our laps in the lounge, watching the TV. How nice it was to do that. Haven’t done that for….. oh, let’s see now….. about four months. (Does a little skip and a dance.) We also opened a bottle of Friday night wine. Helloooo, the weekend!!

We addled our brains watching celebrity Master Chef, and then I watched, while John snoozed on the sofa, last night’s ‘Imagine’ programme about Lemn Sissay. Fascinating stuff.

And there we have it. One more day on our road, on our journey. For a shielding day it wasn’t too bad at all. How was yours today?

For some in the country, of course, there’s still heartbreak as 123 people died from a COVID-19 related illness and 770 people were confirmed as infected today. Seven deaths in a hospital setting were reported by the NHS for Thursday – which seems to be a day out now.

Have a good weekend everyone and take care of yourselves.

A little lighter of foot today. The slow pull of wheedling Mum out of bed wasn’t needed this morning. She’s at home, in her own flat, and I could rest, or get up, or run round the house naked, if I’d wanted to this morning. I could do whatever I liked!!

So, I took my time and made a delicious breakfast before venturing out for a walk in the lovely sunshine, dappling through the trees. I walked apace, mind you, as John and I were driving into Solihull to get his hearing aids sorted out, and I needed to get back home in time. He was in and out of the hearing centre as quick as you like – I had hardly started listening to my ‘Headspace’ meditation app when he was already bidding the staff goodbye. In these times, we discovered there isn’t much of a hold-up, or waiting in a holding area, as everyone’s appointments are well spaced out. So that worked well.

Home again, and no need to make two different lunches. We could scramble something together without worrying too much, so we chopped the last of the cooked chicken and some sweet chestnuts, along with a little sweet chilli sauce, and bunged it into paleo pitta bread. Yummy!

After lunch, we went over to Mum’s to fit a key safe, for the carers to use. Mum had had a good morning and was still relatively happy in her flat. We moved Aunty Mollie’s chair into the optimum TV-viewing position, fitted the key safe, and sorted out her food. Slight mix-up there, with Mum eating the sandwiches that had been made for her tea, instead of the hot dinner that had been brought at one o’clock. By the time we got there, at three o’clock, the food was cold, of course. Ah well, early hiccups.

Mum had us move her new chair several times. “Let’s have it on the skew,” she urged. So, we pushed it at angle. TV viewing position OK? Hmmm, no, let’s try it a bit further out away from the wall. Then: let’s move the table; now let’s straighten the chair up; now let’s push it back a bit, and so on. Until finally, she thought she was satisfied. ‘On the skew’ is what she wanted. She’d have to turn her head to watch TV, but I shrugged and allowed it. She was set on it. “This TV’s not much good though,” she remarked. Oh? What’s wrong with it? “Well, the picture’s too small.” We had to laugh. We have a humungous TV at home – it is huge. We treated ourselves a couple of Christmases ago as we weren’t having a holiday and it was our relaxation and pleasure as we were stuck indoors. Mum had clearly got used to having a very large picture right in her face, and the TV in her room looked titchy in comparison. We’re taking bets on whether she’ll get used to it or demand a larger TV. Any takers?

It felt like we were at Mum’s a while but, in fact, we were home by about 4.30, so John went straight into the garage to fit a plug, which had arrived in today’s post, into the dashboard of the Lotus. Ref: yesterday’s blog when he was threatening to got the motorist’s shop if it didn’t turn up. Thank you, Lord……. he, he, he…….

I spent a little while sorting out more bits and pieces relating to Mum’s care and phoning the care agency to clarify what was what. Pills…… easy to understand in a well-designed and well-marked up blister pack, you’d think? Those marked ‘Morn’ to be taken in the morning? Yes. Those marked ‘Eve’ to be taken in the evening, yes? No. The care agency understand that those marked ‘Eve’ are to be taken at bedtime. Even though there is a blister square marked ‘Bed’ – which, incidentally, is empty of tablets and clearly not required. I am confused of Coventry…… The agency has asked me to ask to pharmacy to put Mum’s evening tablets in the ‘Bed’ category. The reason? Ha! When they go between 6 and 7 in the evening, they class that as a ‘bedtime’ visit. Heavens above!! …….. Beam me up, Scotty!!

This evening, John caught up on some more ‘Luther’ viewing while I ‘Zoomed’ for much of it. First of all, I spent forty minutes chatting to the ‘Bibliophiles’. This is the Book Club I have joined, and I am thoroughly enjoying their company and reviewing the books I’ve read with them. They are so thoughtful about the books and looking into the authors’ histories, that it’s a pleasure to explore ideas with them. Then I chatted to the College Crew, with the exception of Lizzie, who was caught up elsewhere today – oh, and Janet, who joined us for the last seven minutes of the chat, having been distracted by, and was engrossed in, making masks. Everyone was in good spirits and three out of the six of us had had haircuts!! They looked very smart – and relieved – and said they felt better for having been to the hairdressers.

So, we’re nearing the end of the month and we expect the shielding advice to change. With the changes (as they are currently proposed) it means we will start to be a bit more independent and we will be able follow our own pattern and rhythm of life, although taking as many precautions as possible but not having to rely on so many people any more. John will be pleased. I might even let him go to the motorist’s shop.

Quite a lot of COVID-19 infections reported today though, 769, and still 53, all settings, COVID-19 related deaths, with one in a hospital setting yesterday.

Enjoy your holidays, those of you who are setting off this weekend or in the next week or two. But take care everyone. Keep your precious lives precious. God bless, and peace be with you.

Moving day. It was time to take Mum back to her sheltered accommodation today and hope she manages well. Whilst she wasn’t looking, I packed up some of her belongings yesterday and trundled them downstairs ready for Phase One of the move. My intention was to pop to the flat this morning before she got up, and take the few bits round. However, good fortune smiled on me and Mum’s cleaner and companion, Tracy, called in for the key to go and give the flat a once over, and took the luggage with her.

Phase Two began as I woke Mum up. “Yes, I’ll get up.” she smiled, but lay back for another snooze. Only had to do the waking up routine a couple more times before she did actually get up. I was waiting for her to come downstairs so that I could pack up the rest of her stuff without her seeing what I was doing. I thought she might be upset if she watched the operation. Finally, she made it to the kitchen where she got her breakfast.

I whizzed upstairs, threw all her belongings into a couple of suitcases and shot out to the car to pack them in the boot. I reminded her we were going to be setting off shortly. She looked miserable. “I don’t want to go,” she said. “No worries, Mum, honestly, you’d settle in dead easy,” I replied. She looked pained and said, “Yes, the operative word being dead.” I laughed – and so she laughed too. She prolonged the departure, “I’ll just go to the loo before we set off…..” but we did get going before long.

As we arrived in the courtyard, Mum told me, forebodingly, that she didn’t recognise any of it. Once we were in the flat itself, though, she was excited. She hadn’t remembered the flat when she was at our house, but once she stepped over the threshold, she was delighted that she had such a lovely place to live. Not only that, she was also thrilled with Aunty Mollie’s electric chair. I’d been a bit nervous of revealing that to her, having had to move furniture, but we skipped over that hurdle quite well.

We spent the afternoon unpacking and sorting out all her bits and pieces. Mid-afternoon, an assessor came from the care agency to review Mum’s needs and arrange for carers to support Mum twice a day, from tomorrow. The only worry is whether Mum will remember how to let someone in…..

I came home at tea-time, and felt drained. It had been quite a long day one way or another and I had been on the go for all of it. John abandoned his car tinkering, at which he’d been all day too, and we sat down with a cup of tea. For a moment, I thought I might do a bit of meditation before food preparation, but in the end, time moved on and it was suddenly a quarter to seven. “Come on,” I said, “let’s do the tea together.” So we trundled into the kitchen and pulled an evening meal out of nowhere.

Refreshed, it was time for our weekly quiz. We were initially disappointed not to be meeting up round at Malcolm’s to celebrate Hazel’s birthday but, in fact, I was so tired that it was probably a good thing we were Zooming instead.

We were pleased to see that Hazel had clearly had a good day yesterday and Malcolm was on the mend. The quiz was good, and we all had good fun trying answer some crazy questions. I expect you all know the answer to what the collective noun for a group of rhinoceros is, but none of us could remember, and had great fun mooting all sorts of ideas. The best one was ‘a fairy’ of rhinoceros. Nice idea but wrong.

After the quiz we chatted, which is always nice, and the talk was of the easing of the lock down and all our concerns and anxieties relating to that. None of us is keen for the nation to walk, open-eyed, into a second wave of infection. John has said that if the parts he’s ordered for the car don’t come tomorrow though, he’s walking up to the motorist’s shop again. I’m sure it’ll be fine….

Seventy-nine COVID-19 related deaths reported by the government today, and 560 people confirmed as infected. The NHS figures though, don’t seem to have been updated, so I am not sure what the latest is in hospitals. Fingers crossed that a delay in reporting the numbers doesn’t mean a surge of cases.

So, another day comes to an end, and I am grateful for all those who thought of us or said a prayer for us today. Take care everyone. God bless, and peace be with you.

Some days have been better than others during our enforced ‘stay-at-home’ situation – especially those days when we’ve seen our family and friends. But those days haven’t stopped all ‘the blues’ – even when we’ve had a great few days. Inexplicably, some days you feel frustrated, weepy for no reason, angry or ask, ‘where’s the best hiding place’? I recognise the signs of stress, but don’t always do the right thing to prevent the big ‘creep’. However, at the weekend, I gave myself a bit of a talking to and planned to start that little regime, that we know works, to chase away despair.

Day One: Go for a walk. Day Two: Go for a walk. And so on. Just that, to start with, especially among the trees and countryside, if possible. Well, for us it is possible, of course, because a few steps away from our front door, there are fields to tramp in and trees to glorify. We are so lucky to live where we are.

This morning, then, a little walk down the ‘Yellow Brick Road’ and into the fields. The sun was shining, making its presence felt, and I came back refreshed enough to tackle whatever chores awaited. First: an early delivery from Ocado of foodstuffs peculiar to us, and some for Mum to take back to her flat. Then, ‘shopping washing’ of which I am now tired of doing, but don’t want to stop ‘just in case’. Followed by a grand little potter in garden, watering and dead-heading and weeding. Very therapeutic.

It’s late morning and, no surprise, Mum isn’t actually up yet. I run upstairs again to see how she’s doing, to find she is dressed. Ah….. we said not to get dressed this morning, Mum, as we thought a bath might be in order before going back to the flat? “Well, I’m dressed now.” she said, a little defiantly. No worries, we can get you undressed again when it’s bath-time but come and get breakfast now. I left her to finish primping herself in the mirror and went downstairs for the Part 2 in the de-stressing game. A bit of meditation.

I sat outdoors on a reclining chair, put my headphones on and sank into peace. The sun, sometimes white hot when it emerged from behind cloud, bathed me in warmth, the whole time I was there. It did feel good. For a short while, I could feel John sitting beside me, too. Nice.

Afterwards, I felt better. I popped into the house, expecting to see Mum sitting in her usual seat, ready for the bathroom trip, but she wasn’t there. Nor in the kitchen. Surely, she’s not still in her room? Yes, she was. Back in bed, fully clothed, bless her. I’d clearly confused her and she wasn’t sure whether she was coming or going, so went back to bed. By this time, it’s nearly lunchtime, and I thought better of forcing her into the bath. “Never mind, Mum, we’ll do it another day.” And, at that point, I thought I really didn’t want to spend another afternoon just floating about the house, cleaning and tidying and ferrying cups of tea and pieces of cake into the lounge. “Let’s go to Michael’s.” I suggested. “Good idea.” said John, who is also feeling a bit up and down.

Mum declined the invitation to visit as it would mean sitting out in the garden, but she sent her love. Off we went, just the two of us, to spend a couple of hours with the Sutton Sleaths. Always fun and always uplifting. Thomas, the baby, was beautiful; William chattered away and showed us all the toys he plays with in the garden; and we four just sat and enjoyed each other’s company. I was very glad I hadn’t spent the afternoon at our house just whiling away time.

Tomorrow: Go for a walk. Meditate. It’ll be fine.

On an entirely different note, I had a lovely ‘path chat’ with Caroline this morning. She called round to collect the special parcel I’d bought and wrapped, so that she could take it round to our friend, Hazel, one of our Centre Stage quizzers, whose birthday it was today. Happy Birthday, Hazel!!

The ‘path chat’, as I say, was lovely because it was nice to see Caroline, but commiserations were in order as Malcolm finds himself unwell with shingles. Do we carry on and go to his house tomorrow evening to celebrate Hazel’s birthday? The consensus of opinion was ‘not’. We’re going to have that celebration in a couple of weeks’ time instead. Still something to look forward to, then! And we’ll quiz tomorrow evening, anyway, all being well. Get well soon, Malcolm. I mean, who’ll do my shopping, if you’re poorly?? (This is supposed to be a joke…….)

Talking of those who are poorly, and for the record because I always put this in, there were 110 COVID-19 related deaths up to four o’clock this afternoon and 445 people had been confirmed as infected. 3 people died in a hospital setting yesterday, dashing my hopes of seeing a zero on the NHS spreadsheet today. And 110 deaths in all other settings? That seems a bit higher than I was expecting.

Nevertheless, the general public is encouraged to get back to some semblance of ‘normal’ and I celebrate the fact that friends are able to take holidays and spend time with their families again at close quarters. That’s got to be good news. But keep let’s washing our hands, keep our distance and wear our masks, yes? Yes!

God bless and peace be with you all.