Marvellous Monday

Well, I went to bed with a spring in my step last night. Danielle had texted to see if we wanted to another socially-distanced walk in the park today – this time with William! Of course, I said yes!

So I was up ‘n at ’em this morning, humming round the kitchen as I got my breakfast and John’s tablets. Smiling to myself as I sorted out a few more Christmas cards and one or two bits and pieces to take with us. Oooh, I was thrilled to be going over to Sutton. John got up and was ready on time, too, which made my day, and we arrived spot on at 11 o’clock at the Sutton household.

They were all ready, coats on, buggy buckled with a snoozing baby, and smiles on their faces. I unloaded the car of the items I’d taken with me: the now-repaired tarpaulin for the gazebo, a packet of those half-baked bread rolls (‘due by’ date: soon), an ice bucket and a very large bottle of champagne ready for Christmas. There was also a sit-on/ride-on fire engine that had been Freddie’s. I’d glued the steering wheel on, which had drifted apart from its housing, and it was as good as new, ready for his cousins to play with. William was impressed. With a tuneful, “Oo-oooo-oooooh! What’s that?” he was keen to get his hands on it.

We walked to the park. I had thought John might push the buggy and Danielle and I might stride out chit-chatting but, in the end, Danielle pushed the buggy, with John keeping her company, and William and I raced on, looking for bears in the woods and crocodiles in the swamps. We did a good circuit and a half, ending up at the playground, which William and I absolutely loved. We played on everything. Danielle and John and Thomas looked on indulgently.

Finally, it was chilly and Danielle needed the loo, so murmurings were made about making the walk back. William was having too much fun to want to leave, so I said I’d stay on a bit more and bring him back shortly. Honestly, he was as good as gold. He played and played and laughed out loud as I pushed him on the swing. “Higher, Grandma! Higher!” When we’d had our fill of the playground we played hide and seek in amongst the trees, attempted to climb a couple, picked flowers for Mummy and settled into a companionable walk back home. I think William enjoyed himself by the sparkling eyes and the ready laugh. I know I certainly did. The encounter has set me up for a good few days now. What bliss.

Once we were home, I got on with finalising the Christmas cards and John played a bit more poker on the computer. I was pleased that we had finished the cards, and John offered to post them for me. “What was the queue to the post office like, when you went to the postbox?” I asked John when he got back. “They were still queuing past the Pharmacy,” he replied. Hmmm….. same as when I’d been up to buy some stamps then. Except I decided that I wouldn’t wait in the queue, either inside or outside the shop. Too many people. I popped into Tesco Express instead to buy books of stamps, which did the trick just as well.

We had a cup of tea and a mince pie after that, and I thought I might watch a bit of telly. Someone had suggested that the film ‘Klaus’, on Netflix, was a great kids film, so I thought I’d check it out. Loved it. I was glued. I am definitely going back to my second childhood. Swings? Roundabouts? And kids films? Yes, please. John finally wandered round from the computer at nearly 7 o’clock, tummy rumbling, to ask what was for tea. “Shall we get fish and chips?” I wondered. So we treated ourselves to a fish and chip supper. Nice.

When you are pre-occupied with the grandchildren, you really don’t want to know about the ‘nasty’ stuff going on in the world, but I suppose, for the record, it’s worth just checking out. So the figures today are still a lot and too many.

• 20,263 people have been confirmed as having contracted the virus today
• 232 people died from the virus today
• More people are being admitted to hospital with the virus – the admissions being up by just over 14% in the last week with nearly 11,000 people taken in
• 138 people died in hospitals in the last couple of days
• Today is Day 13 of our Tier 3 and, with cases still rising on our area, it looks like we’ll stay there
• And we have been ‘holed up’ for the last 271 days since we first hunkered down in March.

Take care everyone. God bless.