It seemed to be a very grey morning when I woke up and, sure enough, when I looked out of the window it was, and it soon came on to drizzle with rain. The glory of autumn was overshadowed by threatening clouds on the horizon. I didn’t mind particularly, as we were not planning on doing anything outdoors today but I did wonder whether we’d feel miserable because of it.
In the end, I felt OK but John felt a bit low, not least because he is really fed up of being under the weather. Nevertheless, he got himself ready at a reasonable time for us to get going to Heartlands this morning where we were meeting up with his haematology consultants.
It turned out to be a speedy visit in which we saw two of the consultants, Dr Paneesha and Dr Kishore, both of whom know John very well, and they were delighted to see him. There was a bit of banter which always cheers us up, and they were relatively happy with John’s progress from the infection that had seen him hospitalised the other week. They were thrilled with the fact, too, that John has been set up for some treatment next week at the immunology clinic, to have some IV immunoglobulin. This is in an effort to protect him from repeated infections which, if it works, will be very welcome thank you very much.
I expressed my concern over John’s chest and his inability to breath and they nodded wisely but pointed out that actually, his lung function is probably not much more compromised than before. Admonishments to do the breathing exercises and to nebulise a saline solution every day, and they thought that those, along with immunoglobulin, would improve the situation. Just got to hunt out the breathing apparatus we bought a couple of years ago….. now, where did I put it for safekeeping?
After we’d got home, had a cuppa and a bit of lunch, it was time for me to get ready to go over to Paul’s to collect a very large set of pine bookshelves. When I called in to their house the other day I saw that they were chucking it out and it was lying prostrate on the skip. “Can I have it?” I asked Paul, and he said yes, no worries. But, how to get it to us? It is 2.4 metres tall…..
“Will it fit in your car, do you think, Paul?” I asked naively. Everyone fell about laughing. I looked up the cost of a ‘man with a van’. At the very least it would be fifty quid. Hmm….. still cheaper than asking a carpenter to make me some shelves, but still. I know! We have our very own trailer here still (until Sunday). Who do we know with a tow hitch?
So anyway, Malcolm arrived punctually at two-thirty this afternoon to hitch up the trailer, man-handle the shelves into it and transport it back from Kenilworth to us here in Balsall Common. If only I could hug him. Handed over a bottle of wine instead.
Harriet also gave me a pile of books that she was getting rid of, so I am now a very happy bunny. Trying to kick-start my reading habit again, but it is slow progress, I’m afraid. Still having trouble concentrating. Not sure how to get into the groove again. Tips anyone?
After the excitement of humping a heavy bookcase from A to B, I thought I’d have yet another cuppa and a sit down. John was busy watching one of these real-life whodunnit programmes when I got back, so I joined in. We both felt the need for mind-numbing stuff. And that was it then. Never got the paintbrush out again today. Maybe tomorrow?
After we’d eaten our evening meal, we settled down again to watch more TV. It is after all, a Friday night. We decided to start on the homework we had been set by our Centre Stage friends a while ago – to research Bond movies. There had been a spate of them shown on TV during lockdown and I had diligently recorded them. But recording them is not the same as watching them I found out, as our knowledge hadn’t improved at all just by having them sitting on the planner.
So, it was ‘Never Say Never Again’ – an ‘elderly’ Sean Connery cast as Bond when they made this film in 1983 – he was 53 then and it certainly wasn’t his finest hour. I made copious notes during the film, few of which I expect to remember for future quizzes. Ah, well.
I studiously avoided the news today, but I can report that there have been 20,530 people infected with the virus today. 86 people died in hospitals on 21 & 22 October and 224 people died in the community in the last twenty-four hours. There’s still people kicking off about whether or not they should be locked down in whatever Tier they are in, and the issue of feeding children over half-term, with their parents struggling to put food on the table as a result of lay-offs, is high octane news.
And, I don’t wish to worry you but, autumn promises to make way for winter in just eight short weeks, with Christmas in nine weeks, and we’ve got the torment of putting the clocks back this weekend……. who wants an extra hour of 2020, then? Hands up!
Take care everyone. God bless.