Shielding: Day 131

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.