Shielding: Day 127

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.