Well, there is a bit of a Blog today, but a short one. And I may take a rest tomorrow and Boxing Day. I am feeling exhausted. This is borne out of the will we/won’t we uncertainty, and the constant shifting of arrangements.
We’ll plan to do X, only to find we now have to do Y, but tomorrow it’ll be Z. The shopping was ordered to cater for a full family gathering. Now, obviously, a change of plan – deliver some of the food to the other Sleath households, including turkey, instead. We’ll come to you to exchange gifts/No, we’ll come to you. And so on….
So today we played Santa and trundled round the Midlands to drop off the toys for the children’s stockings, squirreling them away in secret places hoping the kids won’t seek out the hidey-holes and spoil the surprise. It was lovely to go round and see everyone, even from a distance.
This afternoon, I sat and watched Christmas TV – John watched some of it but pottered about finalising the shower cubicle. And then, just as we were about to cook the tea, there came a ring at the doorbell and rat-a-tat-tat on the door. There was our Andrew, grinning like a Cheshire cat. He’s come to spend Christmas with the Sutton Sleaths, and called into the village to collect fish, for their traditional Christmas Eve fish platter, from a friend who runs a restaurant in Henley-in-Arden. Ooh, it was so thrillingly exciting to see him!
He finally made it to Sutton, rather belatedly, as his journey hadn’t been an easy one, with hold ups on the A14. Once he arrived, he self-administered a lateral flow test for COVID, which proved negative, which offers everyone a little bit of reassurance. Although we know that the tests aren’t 100% accurate, so caution still to be exercised, but nevertheless, it’ll allow for a more relaxed frame of mind as the celebrations get under way.
John and I decided to open a few of our Christmas presents early as we are planning to do more trips out tomorrow to see everyone, and we’d like to be able to say a genuine ‘thank you’ when we see people. We had great fun doing it too – it felt illicit and was it really allowed? We were like a couple of schoolkids, giggling over our little activity.
There is no better news in the news, however, with the incidence of COVID infections still very high and the scientists advising that families shouldn’t mix. I think it is incredibly hard to say ‘no’ to a family member though, don’t you? We are hoping that our plans to be outside, masked up and well-distanced on our visits won’t prove to be a mistake.
- 39,036 people were confirmed as having contracted the virus in the last 24 hours
- 574 people died in the community from the virus in the same period
- Admissions to hospital are increasing all the time, with a 16.5% increase over the last 7 days. The latest data was from Sunday 20 December with 2,143 people having been admitted.
- 215 people died from COVID in hospitals on 22 & 23 December
- We’re on Day 8 of our second go at Tier 3 in our area of Solihull, which makes it Day 23 since we went into this tier
- And it’s Day 281 since John and I made the decision to stay home as much as we could.
Whatever you are doing over the Christmas period, I hope you enjoy the festival and it brings peace to you all. God bless.
Merry Christmas Anne, fingers crossed next year will be better. X
Hear! Hear! Sue. Hope you have a good time and will be able to see the family. Love to you all!
You absolutely deserve a rest. Here in tier 4 we can’t see our families save on a screen but we are all healthy and are so thankful. Here’s to all those working to keep us safe and looking after those who are ill. Enjoy your distanced visits!
Happy Christmas! X
I am so sorry that you’ve all had to change your plans at the last minute in the South East. It’s so disappointing. But I hope you can still enjoy the on-screen sessions anyway, and fingers crossed the lockdown does the trick to free us up next year as the vaccination comes through. Lots of love to you both.
Enjoy your visits to the family and then come in and enjoy time together ❤️ Have a very Happy Christmas and enjoy a rest from blogging, you’ve earned it! Look forward to hearing all about it ‘on the other side’ Hugs xxx
Ta! Have had a good time!
Wishing you and all the family the very best – if somewhat distanced- Christmas. Thank you for your blog, we’ve really enjoyed keeping up with your goings on. You deserve a rested few days, enjoy!
Thank you! Yes, we’ve had a good couple of days
Happy Christmas to you all it is so sad not being able to be with you I hope you enjoy your day I know it’s going to be so different for you I know your house is normally full but you are both an inspiration to everyone and so strong you light our spirits so I know you will have a nice day lots of love Phil x x
Thank you Phil. Do hope you’ve had a good Christmas in your new flat, and everyone made you very welcome. Keeping our fingers crossed that we’ll be able to see each other next year, whenthe Springtime comes perhaps.
Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year to you Aunty Anne and Uncle John. I hope you get the chance to share your time with family. We are just finishing our day and relaxing after having my son and one daughter and their partners here today. The weather is about to get better tomorrow., just in time for the Australian cricket team to take on India at the MCG, ahhh watching the cricket on Boxing Day, one of my favourite things to do!! Look after your selves and sending my love. XX
Lovely to hear from you Dawn. Great to know you have had a good day. What better way to spend Christmas than with your nearest and dearest. Enjoy the cricket! We might watch it if it’s on Sky.
Take care
Happy Christmas Anne and John, wishing you and all your family a special and blessed day. xx
Thank you Chris. God bless you and all your family. Hope we can catch up again at some point in 2021. I miss seeing you.