The Daily Echo: Day 185

So we’re home and back to standard stuff. John has been out in the front garden shovelling and washing stones again, and I drifted around the house in an attempt to get things into some semblance of order. I also drifted round the garden a bit but couldn’t find the energy or wherewithal to do any gardening. Feeling a bit too deflated at being home and no longer on a lovely, relaxing holiday to want to get stuck in.

I hadn’t slept all that well last night – I either imagined it or could actually smell fumes emanating from the garage, over which our bedroom directly sits. I tossed and turned, developed a headache, my sinuses filled and I began to cough. Eventually, I resorted to sleeping in our old bedroom – that way, the psychosomatic or real symptoms, whichever they were, would be alleviated.

The poor night’s slumber resulted in me oversleeping this morning and I was awoken by the front doorbell ringing. It was the neighbour, calling in to ask me to open the side gate to let the arborist into the back garden. He’d been called in to tidy up the trees that straddle our border. She was very apologetic for getting me up, but really, I didn’t mind.

Thereafter, it’s been a long line of chores today really – put the washing on, tumble it dry, fold it up, put some of it away, put the rest into an ‘ironing pile’; and then, in between times, clean and tidy bits of the house that I’d left in a horrible muddle before we went away, unpack the remaining bags and stash them away, pay a few bills, do the on-line shopping and so on. Nothing to see here.

The days was enlivened, however, by the cricket. England won the toss and opted to bat. Great move we all thought, including the Aussies, who would also have batted first if they’d won the toss. First men in, however, were very soon out, and we were no runs for two wickets. What a horrible start. The team did pull it round a bit and ended up with a respectable score of just over 300. And, when the Aussies stepped up to bat, they also had a horrible start and we thought it might be a good win for England in the end but, sadly, no. The Aussies scraped over the line and we lost the series after all. Very exciting cricket all round though, I have to say, so you don’t mind losing when it’s a close-run thing.

The day was also cheered on with a video call from the Sutton Sleaths and a nice little conversation with William, and a lovely few moments of cooing to Thomas. After much thought, we have finally decided to meet up with them in Sutton Park on Sunday to celebrate William’s birthday since we can’t meet in either of our gardens. Seems a bit mad to me, as I would have thought that the park poses a greater risk of infection (because there’ll be lots of unknown people around) than our back garden. But there we are. We have to follow the rules – even if they are a bit of an ass and a rather blunt instrument to crack a localised nut.

In other exciting news, I was upstairs paying my bills in the computer room when I heard a squeak. I stopped and listened. It stopped. A few minutes later, I heard it again – a bit more persistent this time. I paused and listened again. I couldn’t think where it was coming room, so I followed the sound. I finally traced it down in the kitchen. A baby squirrel, locked in Shadow’s growling jaws. Oh. Oh, dear.

Rio was looking on. Hmmm….. what to do? I gave Shadow a hard stare. To no avail of course. Shadow was in full control of the delightfully soft baby in his mouth. I shut the kitchen door and gave him another hard stare. He began to look a bit sheepish and, ever so slowly, released the squirrel from his grip.

The squirrel sat in the corner, shivering. Rio, bored, yawned and paced his way out of the kitchen. Shadow looked longingly at the squirrel but made no more attempt at catching it again. Instead, he started to miaow for food and stomped over the cupboard. Seizing my chance, I popped food into the cat’s bowls, shut the other kitchen door and scooped the squirrel up to deposit it outside. It shrieked extremely loudly, but the cats were eating their food and didn’t turn a hair.

I put the squirrel out in the front garden under the hedge. I didn’t really fancy it’s chances, to be honest. I thought it might die of shock, but it wasn’t badly mauled so it may survive – unless the cats decide to have another go, of course. We’ll probably find out in the morning.

As the day drew to a close, we were delighted to enjoy another quiz this evening. John was Quiz Master and was very helpful as we worked our way through some tricky questions, saying things like, “OK, move on!” when we’d got an answer right, or, “Well, you’ve haven’t actually said the answer yet…..” as we circled and circled possible solutions to seemingly insoluble questions. Great fun and great company as usual. Cheered me up and reminded me that being home isn’t all bad after all.

However, there have been nearly 4,000 people infected with the virus today and twenty people have died in the community and three in hospitals yesterday. Locally, the figure for Balsall Common still remains at three cases.

Keep smiling. It’ll be alright on the night.