Month: August 2020

I didn’t sleep at all well last night, tossing and turning, and had the feeling that I was awake for all, or most of it. Of course, I wasn’t, but I certainly didn’t wake refreshed this morning. John thought it was his fault. He always tosses and turns and is up half a dozen times but no, I don’t think it was that. I am not sure what it was, but it led to the feeling of walking through treacle early on today.

I got up and started to wade through the various jobs I had jotted down every hour during the night. One interesting job was to load some of Mum’s poems into a portal, for a group of people to consider whether they might publish them into a little pamphlet. I don’t hold out a lot of hope as the instructions are quite fierce. ‘If your work tends to  cliché, abstraction, generalisation, worn phrasing, righteousness and outrage, it is not likely to interest us.’ Hmm….. Mum’s poems may be a bit clichéd with a few well-worn phrases….. but I’ve submitted them anyway, for a bit of fun.

However, I wasn’t long into the choosing of the poems and copying them into a Word document when I realised that I couldn’t access half of them. That was because, when I got them printed into booklet form for Mum’s 90th birthday, I did them directly into the programme for print. And access to the programme was missing. Help……. George?

Dear George, thank goodness, came to the rescue and sorted out the file path and access to the delinquent poems, from which I selected a few more to submit to the august committee. What a very good friend he is. I don’t expect to hear any more about the submission, however, but for a moment that little flame of hope flared. Think how excited Mum would be if her poems were in print for people to read!

I wasn’t far from finishing that little job (which actually took me until mid-day) when John said he was off. He was making another trip to Sutton. Must finish the electrics, he muttered.

Not very long after John had left, there was a mysterious text message from Andrew. ‘Gonna leave soon. Will let you know when I am on the move.’ Did a little dance. Excited butterflies in my tummy. Andrew’s coming home! Did another little dance. Oh, bliss. I hadn’t even been aware that a visit was on the cards today. What a lovely surprise.

And it was bliss. We naturally sat outside, but the weather was good and relatively warm. There was no breeze, so no wind chill factor. We lit the chiminea to keep the chill away though, just in case, and cosied round it, made a cuppa and sat and chatted and chatted. Bliss, bliss, bliss.

“Does Dad know you’re coming home?” I wanted to know. I couldn’t believe John would be out and about if he knew the prodigal son was coming home. Apparently, he did know and said to Andrew he’d be home about six. Well, that was nice. I had Andrew all to myself for the whole afternoon. It was lovely.

Before Andrew came, I hadn’t quite decided on food for the day, but I had got a whole chicken in the fridge. Always going to kill the fatted calf when the boys come home, aren’t you? So today was no exception. Winner, winner, a roast chicken dinner. And it was delicious. Magnum to follow. What a treat.

Andrew had brought home with him a fair few chattels from the flat he’s vacated and that he can’t fit into his single room. We spent a little while unloading the car and filling our house up with stuff. Not sure how long we’ll be keeping it this time….

John finally made it home at around six o’clock as promised and had a comfy hour with Andrew before he needed to head back. I was cock-a-hoop, having enjoyed Andrew’s company all afternoon but sad to wave goodbye again. It was such a short visit. Short but sweet. He set off, laden with a few bits and pieces like food, as well as one or two items he needed for the professional kitchen. “Bye! Drive carefully!” we called, as we followed him all the way down the road with our eyes, waving all the while.

The treacly feeling had miraculously disappeared when Andrew said he was on his way and it stayed away all afternoon. Funny how it came back again after he’d gone though, eh? Couldn’t be bothered to do anything much this evening – not even the pots. So, they’ve stayed stacked by the sink ready to be washed tomorrow morning. I just shut the kitchen door on them. Perhaps the cats’ll lick them clean…….

Andrew and I mulled over the COVID-19 situation and considered where the hot spots might be and concluded that neither Cambridge nor Balsall Common are ‘hot’. But there are places across the country which must be hot, because there were 1,406 people confirmed as infected today and two people reportedly having died from it in the community, and one in hospital yesterday.

Are we getting blasé to the figures, do you think? I remember there was a worry when 750 people were infected at one time, and now, we don’t seem to bat an eyelid that there are almost double that figure of people infected in one day. There’s no accounting for it, is there?

In the meantime, a visit from Youngest Son has buoyed me up for the days ahead and I am hoping that the treacly feeling goes away tomorrow after a good night’s sleep.

God bless. Go well this week everyone.

Awake at seven o’clock again this morning but snoozed on until eight. Didn’t quite spring into action immediately but soon enough to get myself ready to go to church, for the first time since lock down, at nine-thirty. I had been hoping to meet up with the Kenilworth Sleaths there, as it was a service to bless the schoolbags ready for the ‘back to school’ run next week. However, they didn’t make it, but I was glad I went.

The arrangements in church were very carefully thought out with everyone wearing a mask, and no-one touched anything, so my nerves were unfounded, and it went off without a hitch. I was touched that so many people were pleased to see me and welcomed me back. I was in trouble though. I had parked my car too near the path by the side of the church and waiting for me as I emerged, were two of the congregation ready to point out my misdemeanour. I was crushed. There’s always something, isn’t there? Ah, well, lesson learned.

Back home, I comforted myself with a couple of freshly-baked croissants, and a freshly-made brew. Felt a bit better then and got on with a few jobs, before having a little sit-down on the sofa. John made another cuppa, which I promptly ignored as I fell asleep. Whaaat? No idea what is going on. It was only one o’clock in the afternoon. It wasn’t as if I’d even been working very hard.

I woke up in time to watch the Grand Prix this afternoon, which wasn’t awfully exciting as it was a bit of a procession. Half-way through, I thought I’d better busy myself and get ready to go round to Mum’s to take her shopping.

Mum was very well and thrilled that I had taken round a photo album of the family that I’d had printed, called ‘Lockdown 2020 – March to May’. She was delighted to look at the pictures of everyone, especially of the great-grandchildren and herself. “I don’t take a bad photo, do I?” she said. Well, she doesn’t. All the photos of her in the album look good. So, she had a second look through the album to feast her eyes once more. She was even more delighted when I told her that the album was hers to keep.

It was a pleasant hour or two with Mum – she was in a good mood and, apart from commenting on me wearing a mask, she wasn’t critical at all. She thought she hadn’t seen me for ages though and had I been on holiday? Erm, no, just been busy. We sorted through her clothing and fished out a load that she thought probably needed washing, so I brought those home with me. I also brought home a bag of ironing. She couldn’t remember who had done her washing for her this week, but it had been tumble dried and the creases were embedded in – no amount of folding and laying flat was going to undo them. I soon fixed that this evening and her clothes are ready to be returned.

When I got home, John had belatedly started watching the T20 cricket on telly. I do like a bit of cricket and the twenty-over cricket format is great for a nail-biting finish. For a while, England looked like they were making slow progress, but then the pace picked up and we thought it might be easy-peasy. That was before a few wickets tumbled all at once. But they made it to the finish line and won the day. Exciting stuff.

John had planned to go out and do a bit more stone-shifting, but the cricket lured him in and he watched to the end of the match before starting the work. That meant that he delayed his tea-time by about an hour or so. I went out at seven o’clock to let him know that it was ready, and I was going to eat mine. He was on a roll however and wanted to get the last little bit done. He had to re-fresh his chips in the chip pan when he finally came in…..

By the time John made it into the lounge, I had started watching a film about Barbara Windsor. I thought it was just a documentary and, it probably not being John’s cup of tea, I decided I’d view it while he was out labouring. However, it was a really well constructed piece of theatre and I thoroughly enjoyed it. John came in half-way through and even he enjoyed too.

The ol’ man made me laugh this evening though. I came up to write my diary and, after the night-time ritual of locking the house up, he wheezed his way upstairs, plonked himself on the chair beside me and said, very breathlessly, “I think I’ll have to review how much I think I can get done in a day….” No…. you don’t say?? He’s nearly seventy years old, with a variety of ailments and he’s only just thinking now about reviewing the situation?? Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle. You gotta love him.

I constantly think about how I shield John in the current circumstances as I am not keen for him to become a statistic of COVID-19. Despite there only being one reported death in the community using the new counting method, shockingly, there have been 1,715 people confirmed as infected today. I am hoping it wasn’t a mistake to go to church this morning……fingers crossed. It seems we still need to be shielding.

Take care everyone. God bless.

It was seven o’clock and I was awake. I peeped outside. Dull as ditch water out there. Light, but not bright. At this time in the morning I always mull over what I should do – step outside for a walk? Or…. stay inside for some meditation? …. listen the daily prayers on Lectio 365? …….get the yoga mat out? Or even, go and get a cuppa and some breakfast? I opted for a bit of meditation, which worked very well, but you are encouraged close your eyes. It was a couple of hours before I woke up again…..

I know why I am tired – went to bed late, of course, but I also enjoyed a great tasting red wine last night, and this morning I think I may have been a little hung over. I read a bit of my book and then John, too, was awake so we softly chatted, still in bed, until we thought we really ought get up.

One of the things I have been enjoying during the period of staying in ‘at home’ is to do an e-puzzle. One of the art galleries on Twitter post one every day, so I like to challenge myself each morning to see how quickly I can do it. One or two others have also risen to the challenge so we share our times in a little competition. I am by far the slowest, but it’s such fun that I keep at it in the hope that, one day, I might move up the league table.

So, after I’d done my puzzle and eaten my brunch, John was ready and raring to go over to Sutton to do a bit more on the ‘man-shed’. I went with him so that I could have a go at shampooing the carpet in the front room there, with my brand spanking new carpet cleaner.

I think we both enjoyed the jobs we’d allotted ourselves today. I was particularly keen to see how my carpet shampooer worked because, as you may recall, the original one I had didn’t work and had to be sent back. I was sent a replacement but, no sooner had I got it than Michael was borrowing it. When you’ve got a dog, your carpets always suffer, don’t they? Well, it was time for another carpet wash and brush up chez les Sutton Sleaths.

The carpet cleaning went very well. I gave the carpet a deep clean and shook my fist at it daring it to come back for more. It was a bit cheeky, because it’s saying yep, it’ll come back for more. So I might give it another go another day and see how it likes that. The challenge is ON!

John also had a successful day tinkering with the electrics on the shed. I think he’s more or less put all the plugs in, but I can’t be sure, as there always seems to be something still to do. “I’ll come back tomorrow,” he says, “and finish that off.” I’m never quite sure whether any of it is ever finished. If it’s anything like the jobs in our house, it might be a case of: “Do you want it finished, or do you want to be able to use it?”

This evening we took delivery of an on-line shop, which had gone a bit awry when I sent the order in and it was a bit like a lucky dip. I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to get. Seemed to get some of the important things though, like chocolate and wine, so we might survive.

We also took delivery of a take-away. Only the second time we’ve done it, and the last time we did we both had tummy aches because we aren’t used to rich food any more. But we’re determined to fight and get used to rich food, so we thought we’d have another go. OK so far.

We sat and watched TV before bed, but not before I had started planning our little trip away to Norfolk. Catherine phoned me today to confirm the arrangements, so I am now very excited to have something to look forward to. Walking boots. Tick. Walking sticks. Tick. Binoculars. Tick. Camera. Tick. That’s all we need right?

The programme we chose to watch this evening was the film about the plane that crash landed on/in the Hudson river in 2009. I remember the incident very well, but I hadn’t realised how well the pilot had done to avert a disaster. The film wasn’t really that good, but the story line was fascinating. I hadn’t realised that the investigators thought that the pilot may have been at fault. Every day an education, eh?

Talking of averting a disaster, we will do well to avert one and avoid a second wave of the virus, from what I understand in the news. However, I am relatively encouraged by the steadying of the figures and by the attention being paid by the majority of people who are doing the right thing and keeping their distance etc. 1,108 people were confirmed as infected with the virus today – how does that feel to you now? Still seems a lot but it’s not going up. And 12 people died in the community with just one death in a hospital yesterday. That’s getting better – not for the dead people and their families, of course, but better statistically and gives us hope.

Blessings to you all.

OK – so this is turning into a marathon. Almost everyone is bored of reading the The Daily Echo, with the days trundling by and me blarting out the same sort of stuff every day.

Regardless, encouraged by a few stalwarts, I am carrying on. And, you never know, this may be the stuff that my grandchildren alight on in many years to come, and they may wonder at the ‘nuttiness’ of the times we are living in. The ‘nuttiness’ being the pandemic (of course) and the English government’s madness just now. (Please don’t ask me to elaborate – it’ll have to be the newspaper cuttings that inform…. or social media?) At least, I hope that the grandkids’ll find this blurb/blog/diary interesting – even if they decide it was their Grandma who was mad….see below. But does any of it seem mad to you?

In reality, not a lot to report today. John decided he was going to do more ‘man-shed’ work over in Sutton, so he set off, mid-morning, to get on with it, leaving me at home to get on with…… oh, I don’t know …. stuff….

Firstly, my ‘stuff’ comprised sharing, far and wide, Michael’s request for participants in research for his PhD. (If you haven’t had any communication from me or John on this, please let me know). That took a while. And thank you to those who have already responded – mostly saying, “We don’t know anyone,” but, please even if you think you don’t know anyone please, please share. It may be a friend of a friend of a friend who knows someone who can help.

Then, I thought about improving both my mental and physical health, so scrolled through all of the yoga sessions Jaime had sent me, with a view to streaming one of them on YouTube. Grrr…… unavailable on my phone… how’s that happened then? Argh… I transferred the emails to a folder in my email account and the folders were empty. I know, I’ll check out how you ensure that the folders in your email account have content. Hmmm…….. It turns out, if you have a problem in this area, you have to delete your account on your phone and then re-install it. Oh, right, yeah…… as if I am going to do that without backup??? No worries, the lady from Apple re-assured me. You’ll get a phone call about 4.30 this afternoon to help you do that. Did I get the phone call? Did I? What do you think? Humph! And I never did get to do a yoga session today……

I seemed to spend hours on the research for what to do with my email account on the iPhone. Fortunately, Michael phoned from Jersey, which broke the spell, and I promised him that I’d go for a bit of a walk to prise me away from the computer – which I did – and then I called on Pete and Dawn to offer the very belated birthday gift I’d got for Dawn. They were well and feeling rather good, having been out for lunch with Lucy today. I was not jealous, as you can imagine.

I didn’t stay long at Pete and Dawn’s, anticipating the Apple phone call. And once I was home, I started preparing a nut roast. It’s one we particularly like, and it’s easy to make – just chop up a few nuts etc, sling in a few veggies, and add a couple of eggs. Ha! You think? It took me an hour to prepare. Admittedly, I had a bit of a wander round the garden gathering fresh sage and lemon balm, but still. I have no idea why it takes me so long to prepare this meal, but it always does, and I always think it’ll be quicker the next time, and it never is. Nevertheless, it tasted pretty good.

All the while that I was preparing the evening meal, I kept checking my phone for the anticipated phone call. Nothin’ doin’. Never did get the call. Will have to do a follow up tomorrow. Sigh…..

John arrived home just as I put the nut roast in the oven. Ah…..it’ll be a good forty-five minutes or more before it’s ready. Oh, and at seven o’clock I’m going to be chatting to my book club, so can you sort your own food out, please? Yes, no problem.

This evening, then, was book club, while John sorted out the food and watched a bit of TV. I, meanwhile, thoroughly enjoyed chatting to everyone about the book we’d read, “The Beekeeper of Aleppo” and planned the next book to read. I am so enjoying this book club. Firstly, the books chosen are interesting. Secondly, the people with whom I chat, are interesting. And thirdly, there’s no pressure. Nice.

After book club, I ventured downstairs, where John and I drank lots of red wine and watched trashy TV. I’d love to be able to say we watched ‘intellectually stimulating TV’ one day, but the truth is, we mostly don’t. This time, it was about a serial killer in America. And all I could think was, “Dear Lord, save their souls.” Unfortunately, the women’s bodies were not saved – all eleven of them – so it was distressing.

Meanwhile, people in the community are distressed that their loved ones have contracted COVID-19 and are worrying as to how it will all go. For nine people in the community it went badly today, with them dying from the virus, and three deaths in hospitals yesterday; and for another 1,276 there is the worry of the effects of the disease – whether they be acute or chronic.

Stay safe everyone – you don’t know where the pesky virus lurks. God bless.

A day of rest. Not sure whether it was the weather that was the influence, but neither John nor I wanted to get out of bed this morning. I snoozed the alarm at seven o’clock, then switched it off altogether ten minutes later. We slept on. I finally emerged at nine-thirty, shocked that I’d slept for so long. John slept on until mid-day.

I was determined to have myself ‘a holiday’ today and read my book. With the book group getting together tomorrow evening I wanted to be sure to have finished it in good time. I read in bed all morning, and finally winkled myself out of it just as John woke up.

Still glued to my book, I slothed down the stairs, grabbed something to eat and then perched myself on the sofa in the lounge, wrapping myself up in a blanket. Didn’t move all afternoon and I finished my book. Ta-dah!!

Of course, I don’t know about you, but once you are ensconced on the sofa it’s quite difficult to motivate yourself to get up and do anything else. John had also slothed down the stairs, grabbed something to eat and cosied himself on the sofa, wrapped in a blanket. It wasn’t cold, but the outdoors was a miserable sight and we were sedentary.

John watched a bit of TV and then inspected the back of his eyelids while I carried on reading. Then we both watched a bit more TV, before drowsy eyes drooped again. And then, all of a sudden, it’s tea-time. By now, I have read my book and switched to a trashy film instead. “Any ideas as to what we’re going to have for tea?” John asked. I nodded. “Yes,” I said, unhelpfully. He looked at me questioningly. “Thought we’d have the remains of the spag bol from yesterday, with a jacket potato and salad on the side.” Right. And off he went into the kitchen to sort it out. Well, that was nice – having my food prepared for me. It was tasty delicious too.

Then to more TV watching and really, shouldn’t our bums be getting sore by now? That’s all we’ve done – sat down all day!! John recognised that we were in danger of turning into couch potatoes, so he upped and went outside to do a bit more stone riddling, washing and shifting for half an hour. He welcomed the break though, when Michael phoned, and he had to stop to talk to William. I did a bit more welding of my bum to the sofa before I galvanised myself into proofing Michael’s final piece of work for his assignment. I dotted a few i’s and crossed a few t’s before sending it back. Nearly there……

I had thought I might get out this afternoon – Linda had invited our little prayer group to her house this afternoon. As always, I had said I’d ‘wait and see’ but one look at the weather and I wondered if the gathering would go ahead. But no, it didn’t. It was a bit too wet. Maybe next week. We’ll see.

So that’s it – not a lot to report, really, but we’ve enjoyed our day of rest. Up ‘n at ’em tomorrow, no doubt. In the meantime, one of the programmes I watched today was ‘How to avoid a second wave’ (of the Corona-virus) that had been shown on Channel 4 the other day. Don’t know if any of you watched it, but I found it about as reassuring as sitting in front of a chocolate fire guard. It’s all good until someone lights a fire……

So the government reports that there are 1,522 people infected with COVID-19 today and there were twelve deaths in the community – and three deaths in hospitals yesterday. The infection rate seems to be creeping up, no? Bring on the Test, Trace and Track app, that’s what I say!!

Meanwhile, let’s keep on keeping on, shall we? God bless and peace be with you all.

“What are you doing today?” says John, as we woke up this morning. “Dunno,” I shrugged. “Probably try and finish the sorting out of the front bedroom.” See? I’ve moved on. No longer calling it Andrew’s room. Ha! A milestone! “How did you sleep?” I asked. “Dreadful, up every hour or so,” says the ol’ man. Oh dear. It’s a bit of a pattern and I have no idea how to help. However, his day of rest yesterday did him a world of good and he’s not coughing so much today….. although Puffing Billy is in residence, I can hear.

In fact, John felt so much better that he decided to go over to Sutton to do a bit more on Michael’s ‘man-shed’. I chose not to go. I stuck to my plan to do more digging out of the hoard – just in case, you know, Andrew might come home with more stuff sometime soon. I’m still in a dither about what to do with some of the items, but an old rug did make it out to the skip, and there was a lot of shredding of papers, so that was another success.

John set off just before lunch and I was dealing with Mum’s affairs up in the Computer Room when my phone rang. It was Harriet. “Are you doing anything today?” she asked. Not really – any excuse not to be clearing out the bedroom. “We’ll come over this afternoon, that OK?” Oh, yes, thank you. To have an hour or two with Freddie? Wonderful.

Hastily, I sped into the bathroom. I thought I had time for a quick wash and brush-up before they came, but in fact, I was still in my dressing gown when they arrived. “I’ll just dry my hair and I’ll be with you.” Fifteen minutes later, I’d joined them in the garden where we had a cup of tea, and I served Freddie his, now traditional, banana sandwich.

The weather was lovely. Very overcast and it looked like it might rain, but it never did, and the air was so warm we could be outside just in our flimsy clothing. No need to wrap up warm at all. I fished out a soft cushion for Freddie to sit on and he played, on his own, with the Downfall game and the Marble Run, squealing at the way the marbles were dropping down (or not) and landing at the bottom. Warmed my heart to watch him play and lifted my spirits to listen to him laughing out loud at the unexpectedness of the marbles’ behaviour.

Harriet and I had a lovely chat – and that felt really good. It’s so long since I’ve seen her to talk to at any length, and often, the kids are chasing round so it’s an interrupted conversation. But not today. It was a serene and cosy chat. Another spirit-lift.

After they had left, I did go back and do some clearing of the bedroom and actually managed to vacuum in there too. But as I got to the bare minimum in there, it started me thinking. I mean, there are two sofas-cum-bed settees in there. They’ve had plenty of use over the years as we’ve frequently accommodated lots of people all at one go, in the past. But is that ever going to happen again? Will we have the whole family here again like we used to? And will we need to put so many up that it’s sleeping room only on the floor? I don’t think so. A new era, I think.

John finally made it home just before tea-time. He’d had a good, if somewhat painful, day. The rods he was adjusting and slotting into place fought back, apparently, and he needed all his strength to whip them into shape. “Tell you what, have shower and a rest in bed for ten minutes while the tea is cooking,” I suggested. So that’s what he did, and he felt a bit more refreshed ready for Quiz Night at eight o’clock.

Malcolm greeted us all with the news that the quiz was an easy one this week. Oh, yeah? It didn’t seem like it for the first two rounds. Erm……. no, haven’t a clue on that one, next? Ooh, erm….. nope, next? Anyone? Hmmm………As we worked our way through it though, we were able to answer quite a few of the questions and even managed ten out of ten on one round. With trepidation we totalled the score – only to find to our surprise that, actually, we had a respectable 79%. In the end, not bad, eh?

And it was fun, as usual. Great evening among great friends for which I am so grateful. All in all, a good day.

A good day for us, but obviously not so good for those who’ve been infected with COVID-19, of whom there are 1,048 people today, and 16 people have died from it (according to the new way of counting) in the community, with four in hospitals yesterday.

Keep your wits about you everyone. The nasty virus is still around, so take care. God bless, and peace be with you all.

Well!! Would you believe it? It’s been an amazing day, with a few surprises today! How good is that?

First of all, I was just pottering about, as you do, in the house mid-morning, because it was such a blustery, wet day outside, when the phone rang. It was my cousin, Catherine, with an initial query of, “Where’s the blog today?” Oh…. I thought I’d sent it? Did a quick check, only to find that I’d sent it to just one person. Failed to click on the relevant ‘all subscribers’ list, so one recipient got the the blog at midnight, but no-one else.

Ah…… rectified that mistake fairly quickly, then Catherine said she’d been reading that we were thinking of trying to go away somewhere. “Fancy coming to our barn in Norfolk?” she asked. “Oooh, really? Yes, please!” I said immediately. How absolutely, wonderfully kind. Out went all that anxiety of how we were going to go away safely and in came the thrill and anticipation of some time to ourselves. Didn’t even have to think about it, and practically snatched her hand off. Thank you. Thank you. “Check with John,” she said, “and let me know.” Yes, I will. I know what John will say but, yes, just to be sure, I’ll check with him. What do you think, John? No brainer. Yes, please.

With excitement flowing through my veins, I carried on with me pottering while John, in the meantime, had decided that the morning in bed would be the thing to do. He’s been working so hard on his stone shifting that it’s finally caught up with him, so I agreed, definitely the best thing to do – recuperate a bit.

The pottering took me to the continuance of the clear-out in what was formerly known as Andrew’s sitting room, before it became Michael and Danielle’s sitting room. Which was formerly just the front bedroom. Anyway, it’s a BIG JOB. There are boxes of material to archive from John’s business. Then there are knickknacks to box up – little things I don’t want to throw away yet…. and there’s clothes and bedding and artwork and old TVs and photos. I tell you, there’s a fair bit of stuff to go through. But I have done a good job so far, and it’ll soon be neat and tidy again. John has a skip on the drive. I wonder if any of it will make it there?

Soon it was lunchtime. I didn’t feel like eating and John had only just got up so he had his breakfast and we sat with a cup of tea watching the news (cricket rained off) and then the front doorbell chimed. I trotted to the door and took a parcel from the postie as she gestured to a much larger parcel leaning up against the wall. Oooh, flowers!!

I did that thing that I often do, and wondered who they were from, well before I opened them. Who would be sending me flowers? I bet they’re from X? or Y? Once I’d opened them of course, I wondered no more – how lovely, they were from John. How thoughtful and romantic. I was a bit pleased. A very nice surprise with a very nice note to accompany them, thank you very much!!

With the flowers popped into a vase and put in pride of place in the lounge, I nibbled on one of the chocolates that had also come in the parcel and considered the smaller parcel that had arrived. I’d ordered some chocolates for Dawn, for her birthday – that’s what they’ll be, I told myself. But no. It was a bit of pampering kit I’d ordered after our pamper session with the college girls last week. Lucky me! It’s my lucky day today!! And I’m hoping, of course, that the pamper stuff will make me look ten years younger…….. ‘scuse me? Did I hear a snort of laughter somewhere?

And thus the day went on, me pottering, John resting (thank goodness) and then tea-time before watching a bit of TV – last one in this series of ‘Our Yorkshire Farm’ this evening. What a brilliant programme that is! All life is there to be seen and appreciated. Great programme to catch up on if you haven’t watched it.

With 1,184 people having been confirmed as infected with the virus today and 16 people having died in the community and 2 yesterday in hospitals, the news shows everyone is now arguing over what we should do about protecting the kids and the staff as everyone goes back to school next week. It’s not clear at all what the best course of action is. To wear a mask in the school corridor or not is today’s question. Oh dear. Even the experts can’t agree.

Stay safe everyone. Wash your hands. Keep your distance. And thank the Lord for every little mercy. God bless.

Life’s a giggle when you’re with friends, isn’t it? Especially when the weather is nice, and you are able to sit out in the garden without freezing to death. So, giggle we did.

I had been feeling tired the last day or two so, despite the fact that I woke up early this morning, I decided to rest on in bed in an attempt to give myself a boost. It was a toss-up at 6.30 this morning as to whether to leap out of bed and go for a walk, or to leap out of bed and do some mediation and yoga, or whether to put my head back down on the pillow. I was so looking forward to seeing Carol and John and Pete and Dawn this afternoon that I thought I’d put my head back on the pillow and get some more shut-eye so that I could make the most of our social gathering.

I was pleased I did. I felt refreshed and ready for a lovely afternoon with friends. The last time we physically saw Carol and John was Christmas. That’s an awful long time to wait to see a couple of your ‘besties’ but it was worth the wait. So lovely to see them and sit comfortably together talking about every topic under the sun, no matter if we agreed on the topic or not.

We had set out the chairs in readiness, prepped our lunch and put the kettle on, when round the corner they came, into the back garden. The only thing missing, of course, was a hug. Carol and John had brought their picnic lunch, so we all sat together, socially distanced, eating contentedly. We’d not long finished our lunch and supped the last drop of our cuppas when round the corner came Pete and Dawn. And that was it then. An afternoon of chatter, merriment and laughter.

The laughter was probably helped by a little alcohol. We had forgotten all about it, but on Grand National Day we had joined in with Pete and Dawn’s home sweepstake on the ‘virtual’ race. Carol had won first prize and John’s horse had come in second. The prizes? A bottle of Prosecco for Carol and a bottle of wine for John. “Shall we open the Prosecco?” said Carol. Well, it would be churlish not to, wouldn’t it? “Here’s to friendship!” we all chorused. Indeed. I second that.

The conversation never stopped for a minute all afternoon. We all had so much to talk about and it was a great relief to be able to chat face-to-face. We have so missed that warmth of togetherness during the lockdown period. Chatting on Skype is definitely better than nothing, but it’s certainly no substitute for the real thing.

The weather was kind to us today, too. I hadn’t checked out the weather forecast but what did John think? Should we put the gazebo back up? Will it rain? Perhaps we should? John pulled the gazebo out of the ‘man-shed’ and plonked it on the path. He checked the forecast. “There’s a very, very small chance of rain today. I don’t think I’ll bother putting the gazebo up.” I looked doubtfully at the dark rain clouds scudding over our house and crossed my fingers. Of course, he was right. We had a very balmy afternoon. Sometimes cloudy, but frequently sunny, and the gazebo wasn’t needed. We all sat out in our shirt sleeves or bare armed and enjoyed what looks to be the last of the summer sunshine for a week or two.

As always with these things, I was reluctant to see them all go. I don’t know how many times I have written that in my daily diary – it feels like a lot – but it’s always true. I would dearly love to hang on to my very dear friends for a much longer time than we ever seem to have. But go home they had to and we waved farewell, first to Pete and Dawn, who wanted to get back to Jack who’d been waiting in at home for a phone call, and then a fond farewell to Carol and John in the early evening. “Hope you have a safe journey!” we called as they set off on their way back to Derby. “Bye!”

Before Carol and John set off though, they carried out an inspection of the ‘estate’. “Let’s look at your ‘man-shed’, John,” and they strode down the garden to take a peek inside and cast an eye over the fascia board that John had put up all those weeks ago. “You’ve done a good job there,” they said. Then we had a walk round the flowerbed which they also duly admired.

Just before they left, John fetched two little Hosta plants from the car that he’d managed to separate out from some he’s growing at home, and a very healthy-looking tomato plant, which we battened down, tying it to the drainpipe before the winds get up tomorrow and blow it away. It’s only a little thing, but I was excited to have been gifted the Hostas. A Hosta is a plant I’ve often thought of getting, but never have. Fingers crossed that they like my soil!!

You may think our day is nothing startlingly exciting today, but it was something so comforting and solid that I feel very much better for having spent such a refreshing time with dear, dear friends. Might drink to that. What say you?

Meantime, there have been 853 people succumbing to the COVID-19 virus today, 4 deaths in the community and two people in hospitals yesterday. Steady numbers.

In the words of Dave Allen: may your God go with you all this week.

Being Sunday, I thought about going to church, but decided against the physical attendance. Then time went on and I found I hadn’t even been to virtual church either. I think I need to give myself a good talking to! It’s now a few weeks since I engaged in the church community activity. I’ve switched off, hunkered down and am skulking at the back of the cave.

Not sure how to get out of this one – I am having a right royal battle with myself one way or another. It’s nice and cosy at the back of the cave and do I really have to engage with the physical world again? Well, yes, I suppose I do if I am to stay sane, but I am beginning to see the attraction of batty old ladies wearing purple……

However, we continued with our themes of stone sifting and household chores today, wondering whether Andrew would call in and bring back the stuff he can’t get into his flat. In the end, he didn’t come. It was well into the afternoon before he woke up from his slumbers, having gone to bed very late last night. We were a bit relieved he stayed home though, as the weather wasn’t really conducive to sitting out for hours on end being as John has taken the gazebo down. We’d have got a bit wet. But maybe he’ll come tomorrow. We’ll see.

Regarding household chores, I am sure you are all interested in the fact that I have nearly dug the house out now and nearly every room is ready to welcome guests again. Whenever we can have guests again.

Other than that, I exercised a few grey cells today and I spent a little bit of time perusing Michael’s literary review, adjusting the apostrophe, comma, colon, semi-colon and full-stop marks on it, just like a real proofreader would, before I started the ironing.

Now the ironing held an attraction. And that was that I could watch the cricket at the same time. There was an incentive. And I thoroughly enjoyed it – although at one point I thought Pakistan might pull a miracle out as their captain was playing so well. But no, it’s the follow-on tomorrow. Eeeeh, but me Dad would be proud of me following the cricket.

Not a great deal to report otherwise though. This humble life has an emerging pattern when it’s not interspersed with the family activity. The same pattern as everyone else’s, I suppose. Eat, work, eat, sleep, repeat.

Having said that, we are still sorting out the ‘former office-cum-snug-cum gym’ room, and today was a ‘nearly’ something. With the threat of Andrew coming across from Cambridge today, he’d wondered whether he might camp in his tent in the back garden overnight, so that he didn’t have to drive here and back all in one day. We still have his tent, so yes, no problem. Then I wondered whether we would be safe enough if we brought the sofa bed downstairs into the former office/snug/gym so he could sleep in there. It is, after all, in the ‘West Wing’………In the end, I didn’t lug the sofa bed downstairs. Which was just as well as Andrew reminded me he’s bringing his futon back when he comes…….

We’ve had exciting pictures of the Suttons Sleaths on their hols today – but the most exciting one was a ‘Dear Michael, You are COVID-free’ text, having been tested on entry to Jersey. That’s good news, isn’t it? On the other hand, Paul was telling us yesterday that one his staff has tested positive for the virus, so it’s ‘trace and test’ time for all those who’ve been in the office with him. Paul, luckily, has been on holiday for two weeks, so not been near. Fingers crossed no-one is really porrly with it.

The daily figure of people infected today though, is 1,041 and 6 deaths in the community and heaven knows how many in hospital as the figures seem to be up the spout, with one death having been reported on Friday. That’s an anomaly perhaps? But yesterday the report said there were two deaths on Friday……. I don’t know which is right. What’s that they say about information confusion? We’ll soon take no notice. I think it’s happening right now….

Sending love and peace to everyone.

I always write my daily diary at the end of the day – and it’s usually late at night. Today is no different except that I am tired this evening, so have set myself a challenge: what can I write in twenty minutes? Here goes…..

We’ve had another good day. John has done another stint on the stones and really gone to work on them. He’s pushed himself outside into the windy weather, even when the sofa seemed more inviting. He’s keen to get it done. And how wonderful that a passer-by offered to come and help if he was still on the job come Monday. There are some good people in the world. Not sure if he’ll be able to take up the offer though as we are ‘garden entertaining’ on Monday….

I, on the other hand, didn’t push myself much. I just drifted through the house picking up a little job here and a little job there. I did manage to get started on the front bedroom clear-up however, and shifted one or two items. The kitchen got a bit of a polish up, too, and toys in the lounge were moved from A to B. More washing and drying was done and, just when I was bracing myself for more front bedroom sorting, I was reprieved. The phone rang. It was eldest son offering to pop in with Freddie for an hour or two in the garden.

Well, that was it then, wasn’t it? Dropped all chores and got ready to greet them. Freddie is so at home in our garden now that he just comes in and gets on with playing. Paul stopped for a short while in the front garden to help John lay some of the weed protective material, which was a great help as it was bulky, unwieldy and a bit heavy. And then we all settled down with a cuppa in the back garden to hear all about the holiday.

Naturally, I was drawn to playing with Freddie as that is what he expects. And we had a lovely companionable time, pottering about picking the blackberries, which he then shook up in the tub and took home the resultant mush. We gazed into the pond and fed the fish, and Freddie played on the slide and swing to his heart’s content. It was warm enough for ice creams too, although Freddie abandoned his Magnum after he’d picked all the chocolate from it. “Daddy, you eat it,” he said, offering a mauled lolly on a stick. “I’ve had enough.” Shock, horror! How can you ever have had enough of a Magnum, I want to know??

After the representative two of the Kenilworth Sleaths left, we carried on with our chores for a while before it was time to eat and then Skype Pete and Dawn. Had a lovely evening with them, as always. They are such good company. Got through half a bottle of Prosecco though…… they are clearly a bad influence.

And so, here we are at the end of another successful, if tiring day, thrilled at the cricket score and thrilled for young Zac Crawley and his wonderful innings. Not so thrilled at the slight increase in COVID-19 infections reported today though: 1,288 people confirmed with the virus today – and 18 people died in the community according to the new counting system, and 2 in hospitals yesterday.

That’s all I’ve got time for today folks – twenty minutes…… no time for frills today, time for bed! God bless you all and may you all know peace in your lives.