Month: December 2020

Friday! Yippee! That means it’s the weekend. Although, having said that, I am not sure that Saturday and Sunday are a lot different to any other day of the week, but it’s the psychological thing of the weekend equalling freedom, isn’t it?

We weren’t at all sure of what our plans were this morning, other than a trip up to church for a prayer group meeting this afternoon for me, and the dishwasher being delivered for John. Anyway, we faffed about this morning, this way and that. I made lots of lists and John pampered his eyes and his lungs.

One great piece of news is that the eye drop people phoned and confirmed that they are planning a delivery of the eye serum tomorrow. Well, that’s very good news. Poor John has been struggling so much over the last couple of weeks. I do hope the drops help and he feels better soon.

In the post yesterday, an electrical switch-type thing had arrived. John announced that it was for the main bathroom shower. Wow. We might get that shower fixed…. which we did, but not until we’d done a lot of fiddling. It was one of those things which was too little, and it was too dark to see, and there wasn’t a lot of room to get your fingers in. Eventually, we did the job between us. Yay! My first electrical repair! Well, sort of. I had no idea what I was doing, I just followed John’s instructions.

During the morning, Michael texted to tell us that they were planning to visit Santa today at Warwick Play Village, and would call in on the way back to collect some bits and pieces we’d got for them. I always get excited at the prospect of seeing the grandchildren so the morning was fever-filled with anticipation.

The Sutton Sleaths arrived at lunchtime, having called in at the deli on the way back for a sandwich. So, with door open, they sat in the porch and ate while I cooed at Thomas. For a little while, William was fast asleep in the car, bless him, exhausted from his exertions with Santa.

But, for once, Thomas was on top form and didn’t seem to mind Grandma holding him. Unlike the last couple of times when he’s been hankering after Mummy, he sat on my lap and we played and played for ages. He particularly chuckled at the rhyme, ‘This is the way the ladies ride…’ and properly chuckled hard at the physical jiggling about. It was delightful.

William was funny, though. We had got the Monopoly out for them to take home with them, so naturally, he was curious as to what was in the boxes. We took a look and spent a few minutes sorting through the pieces. Next, he could see the train in the hall, all lit up and sparkling. “Oh, look at the train. The wheels are going round. How do they do that?” he wondered. And stepped a bit closer to the hallway. Then he was interested in something a little further in. And took another step into the hallway, just next to Thomas who was lying on his changing mat. William so wanted to come into the house. And I so wanted to have him in the house. Anyway, his attention was diverted, fortunately, by the reminder that he still had the gift from Santa to open. Otherwise I think we’d have been inside rummaging through the toybox in no time at all.

This afternoon, I left John to his own devices, waiting in for the dishwasher to turn up, while I went up to the church hall. I had a very pleasant afternoon with everyone who had brought advent/Christmas poetry, or music, or prose pieces to share. I had taken a quiz with me which was fun but tricky. Thoroughly enjoyed everyone’s choices and found some of them very amusing, and others very thought-provoking.

When I got back home, I was pleased to see the that the dishwasher had arrived and it was sitting near where it would live, waiting to be installed. But, do you know? I was tired and sat watching ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ for the umpteenth time, instead of getting on with ‘jobs on the list’. I am not sure how much I had watched, but I became aware of a disturbing vibe coming from the kitchen. John was having difficulty fitting the new machine. In fact, the instructions looked gobbledegook to both of us. They were gobbledegook, because there was a piece missing which we’ve got to chase up. Grrr. Ah, well, keeps us on our toes.

We ate our evening meal and sat watching stupid TV this evening, laughing our heads off at ‘Johnny English Reborn’. Crazy, eh? Well, you’ve gotta do something to take your mind off the doom and gloom, haven’t you? (see below)…..

• 28,507 people were confirmed with the virus today
• 489 people died of the virus today
• 1,726 people were admitted into hospital today with it
• 157 people died in hospitals of the virus over the last couple of days.
• It’s now Day 2 of our Tier 3; Day 17 since Tier 3 started
• And we’re on Day 275 since the onset of our stay home mindset in March

Take care everyone. God bless.

Ooh, thank the Lord for good friends! Firstly, dear Jaime, who sent me a YouTube link to a yoga session for this morning, as I couldn’t join in her Christmas Special – because I’d double-booked myself. Then, secondly, dear Dave and Chris whom we met at Abbey Fields in Kenilworth, for a walk around the lake. How glorious a morning is that?

Felt marvellously upbeat after the gentle yoga that Jaime had sent through to me, which really set me up for the day. Then, after a rather delicious breakfast of banana pancakes, smothered in pecan nuts, tropical fruits and maple syrup, we set off to meet the Halls for an exchange of Christmas gifts and a walk. I was thrilled to see the sun shining this morning, too – I knew it was going to be a good ‘un!

When we arrived at the car park, however, we found it was rammed. Not a spot to be had anywhere. “What about that black car there?” John wondered, “Do you think that one’s leaving? Or arriving?” It turned out to be arriving. It was Dave and Chris in front of us trawling the car park too. I dropped John off and Dave dropped Chris off as we offered to find parking elsewhere. However, we were lucky. Two spots right next to each other were to be had eventually.

And so we wandered along the path around the lake. It was fabulous. The boys walked slowly behind as Chris and I nattered away and strode off. After a while, we turned to look and see where the boys were. They’d stopped. “Now then, is that John stopping because he’s tired? Or is that Dave stopping because he’s tired?” We didn’t know. But, as we neared a bench, we paused to wait for them to catch up. I looked longingly at the bench. It was in full sunshine, overlooking the lake. The only trouble was, there were three young guys sitting there, with their dogs, having a good old chinwag. We waited a bit, then I thought I’d be bold and see if they were planning to stay long. Well, I think they would probably have stayed a good while longer but, being gentlemen, they said they’d vacate the bench in our favour and allow the two old men, who were bringing up the rear, to take a rest there. Tee-hee!

We sat on the bench, intending to stay for a few minutes but, honestly, we were like lizards warming themselves up in the blazing sun. We lounged there for absolutely ages. It was fantastic. We were relaxed. We caught up on all the news. We caught the rays and drank in some Vitamin D. Such an unexpected treat.

Finally, we reluctantly left the cosiness of the bench and moved on, ready to make our way back. Coffee was on our minds though. And we kept seeing people with paper cups full of the stuff. “I wonder where they are getting it from? Perhaps the café is open by the swimming pool.” But it wasn’t. Eventually, I asked someone who was nursing a large cup of the steaming liquid, and we were directed to a café on the High Street, where we ordered a couple of coffees and a couple of hot chocolates. Another unexpected and delicious treat.

Back at our cars, I glanced at the time. Crikey! It was nearly two o’clock. I don’t know about Dave and Chris, but I hadn’t been expecting to be that long. We’d been there nearly three hours. Not that we minded. We were having such a good time. That’s when you know you’ve got good friends, isn’t it? When time flies, and you don’t realise it. We are very blessed.

Once we were home, John lay out on the sofa to rest his weary legs, while I prepared some lunch. Then I settled down the sofa for a while too, and watched a bit of TV. Phew! All that fresh air was exhausting!

Once we’d had our rest, we pottered about doing a few bits and pieces. Notably, John put together Freddie’s Christmas present from his Mum and Dad that we’d had delivered to our house – a nice, shiny bike. It looks wonderful and we both thought what a lucky boy he is.

I did an update to the Christmas grocery shopping list and kept my fingers crossed that I haven’t forgotten anything, But, as John says – as there’s only going to be the two of us, why will it matter if I have? I don’t know – I only know that I’d like it to be perfect on Christmas Day for just the two of us.

We enjoyed our day, and hope for continued decent weather. Goodness knows we are going to need it if we are to see people ever! We are still in Tier 3 after today’s announcement, so the best we can do is a socially-distanced walk with our masks on for the foreseeable. Oh… groan.

However, it is the right thing to do I suppose, because the picture regarding the COVID infection rate is still very gloomy. I mean, did you see today’s figures? Shocking aren’t they?

• 35,383 people have been confirmed as infected today. Thirty-five thousand.…. that’s up over 40% in the last week.
• 532 people died in the community from the virus today
• 1,725 people were admitted into hospital with the virus today – that’s up by nearly 20%
• 194 people died in hospitals in the last couple of days

Heavens above, this isn’t what we want to hear just before everyone gets together at Christmas, is it? I am hoping that people will heed the message about not gathering, but I am not all hopeful.

In the meantime, we are now into Day 1 of our new Tier 3, which makes it Day 16 since we went into Tier 3…… and it’s Day 274 since our decision to isolate as much as we can. I think I might be burbling now…..

Take care everyone. God bless.

The chatter on the news about what we should do for Christmas, either on the radio, TV or social media, is beginning to feel like White Noise now. Last week, when we nipped into Solihull, I was wondering why people were just seemingly ignoring the rules. But I am beginning to understand now. Whatever the government says, within a short space of time there is argument and counter-argument, which begins to grow ever louder and more complicated to the point that we just want to use the ‘off’ button. Or is it just me?

So, I decided today to tune out for a day or two in the hope that I will come back to it all a bit refreshed. Instead of taking keen notice of what is being said, I am simply going to look inwards and wrap my Christmas presents. Yep. It’s ostrich time. Can’t be doing with it any more. For now, anyway.

In line with ‘tuning out’, I toddled off to the hairdressers this morning. What a treat. I have been hairdresser phobic for most of my adult life, but I have found a hairdresser who doesn’t have any airs and graces, and seems to get me. This means that, when I arrive, she kindly asks what she is doing with my hair, and I answer something along the lines of, “Just take about an inch off and create a bit of shape please.” So she gets on with it and I always come out looking sleek.

After I’d been to the hairdressers, I called in on Paul and Harriet to take a parcel that the hairdresser had given me for Harriet. So lovely to see them and chat on the doorstep for a minute or two. I was making a delivery don’t you know, so I am sure it was OK to call. I didn’t stay long because I was conscious that John was walking in the rain and, if I could get back in time, I could collect him and save him getting too wet. He’d been down to the surgery for some treatment – but I’d got the car, so he had an enforced walk. It transpired that he’d made it back home before I had chance to catch him half-way up the hill. He’d done well – made it there and back in one piece.

We both sat on the sofa for a while drinking tea before John went to do some more poker playing on the computer before lunch. Then he was up for another walk. This time to hand-deliver some cards locally, for which I was very grateful. Meanwhile, I had announced that I planned to ensconce myself upstairs to wade my way through the pile of papers I’d accumulated; pay some bills; make some phone calls to sort out some of Mum’s affairs; and generally do some filing of John’s medical notes. So far, so good. I’ve managed to clear the desk area – just the bed area to go.

Being a poor judge of time, I had thought I might whizz through the papers today and get onto the present-wrapping. Another hahahahaha moment, as I find myself only half-way through the first job of paper shuffling. Ah, well, maybe tomorrow?

John cooked our evening meal while I finalised a few more decisions on the papers, and we sat at the breakfast bar to eat for a change. John’s eyes are really giving him jip and making him feel exceptionally miserable. Not only that, but he was worn out from having shifted (all on his own) the old dishwasher onto the pavement, because the new one is to be delivered on Friday. Oh, whooopee-doop! John is particularly fed up of handwashing the dishes so we can’t wait…… it’s a hard life, eh?

This evening was Quiz Night. Another cracking evening with some great questions and great company. Thoroughly enjoyed it. We even got a few of the answers right. Poor Nigel was torn though. It was the Liverpool/Tottenham match on Amazon and he really wanted to watch it. He’d half thought about sending in a sick note for the quiz, but changed his mind at the last minute and joined in. Not sure we’d have accepted a sick note though, to be honest.

So what’s new on the COVID front then, folks? Nothing new. Lots of people sick, dying and being admitted to hospital.

• 25,161 people confirmed as infected with the virus today
• 612 people have died today in the community
• 1,770 people have been admitted to hospital today with the virus
• 186 people have died in hospitals from the virus
• And today is the *last* day of our Tier 3 -Day 15 – before we hear whether we stay or change a tier
• 273 days have elapsed since March when we locked ourselves in

Goodness me. What a lot of water has passed under the bridge this year, and we are no better at managing the contagion. The vaccine will help for sure, so I’m looking forward to that. How about you?

Take care everyone. God bless.

This morning, we knew that the plumber was coming round to service the boiler. I had tossed and turned in the night, conscious that there had been little vacuuming done in the last week, given the amount of ‘other’ things had occupied both my mind and my time, and I thought I’d be highly embarrassed if he saw the grubby carpets. So, when the alarm went off quite early, we both groaned. John huffed because he is fed up of being woken up early every day. And I huffed because I really was still fast asleep. A few more minutes? Then, I remembered – the reason the alarm was early was because you never know with a plumber what time they are going to arrive. I’ve known them turn up at just after half past seven before now.

I had time though, as it turned out, to vacuum the hall, stairs and landing before the plumber came just before mid-day. I also had time to wrap a few parcels and tackle technology with a view to sending them off.

I thought Parcel2Go was the best option – I didn’t want to be joining the queue outside the Post Office. So, I put in all the details on the computer, which it accepted and was on the point of ‘nearly there’ when it told me that the parcel I was planning to send, wasn’t going to be collected from my front door. Oh. Bother. Ah, well, the drop-off point was only three miles down the road in Knowle so I opted for it.

Blithely managed to get the second parcel labelled and ready to go in the same fashion and then started on the third. Only to find that delivery to Jersey by such an organisation was going to cost the earth. Dammit. I was going to have to go to the Post Office and queue after all. ‘I know,’ I thought, ‘I’ll check out the Knowle Post Office. There might not be a queue there.’ Oh, hahahahahaha…….. how naïve am I? The queue in Knowle snaked round the corner and half-way up the street too…..

Resigned, I drove home to join in with the all the other miserable-looking lot, hopping from one foot to the other, outside our own beloved Post Office. I wandered to the back of the queue, which was nearly at the butcher’s shop. But when I got there, I really couldn’t face it. Did I really have to queue, when all I had to do was drop the bloomin’ parcel off, having paid the postage online already? I shrugged, and made my way to the front, “Are we allowed to go into the shop, or do we have to queue for that as well?” I asked the lady at the head of the waiting hundreds (well, it seemed like hundreds, but you know how I exaggerate). “Oh, you can go into the shop.” she replied, “We’re just waiting to go to the Post Office counter to have the parcels weighed.” Right. Thank you.

I made my way into the shop, whereupon I met a very nice young man, Employee of the Month, in my opinion, and asked him if I had to queue to drop my parcel off. “I don’t want to push in, and will queue if it’s necessary but…” No, I didn’t have to wait. If I wasn’t bothered about a receipt, just drop it on the counter. Or, better still, he’d take it from me and put it in the sack ready to go. What a result. What a relief. I hadn’t held anyone else up or jumped in, and yet it was sorted. Phew.

How time flies. Once I had done all of that, having left John at home wrestling with showers, yes, showers, plural, I thought I’d have a little sit down on the sofa…. no, I didn’t fall asleep! Very nearly, but not quite. John joined me and we watched a programme about a woman claiming to be innocent of a crime she’d been given life for. American, of course, but great afternoon TV for tired bodies.

But, to return to John’s current project – the showers….. We have, as I’ve said before, been awash in the ensuite bathroom as the water leaks out under the shower cubicle. With the cubicle having a set of double doors, John thinks the water flows through there too, so has dismantled the lot, in a bid to put some magnetic pieces in between the doors to keep them together. The work is still in progress. Can’t use the shower in there yet.

We haven’t been able to use the shower in the main bathroom either, for months. Unless, of course, you fancy a cold shower, that is. So John has dismantled that one, too, and sent away for the relevant part to repair it. Can’t use the shower in there yet, either.

Fortunately, we still have a bath and a shower downstairs, so we needn’t go dirty just yet. But watch this space. We may, or may not, be able to use our usual showers soon.

After our somnolent afternoon, we were just getting our tea ready, when the front doorbell rang. There was darling Paul standing on the front doorstep. He’d just called in to share with us a moment of success in his business. How wonderful it was to see him and be excited with him. *Does a little dance.* We are so pleased for him, and so wanted to hug him. In fact, John couldn’t contain himself and went for it, almost squeezing him to death.

So, a good day, when things have been done and success celebrated. I’ve even managed to speak to a proper human being in the chasing up of John’s eye drops. Might even have them by this time next week….. fingers crossed.

And the figures today? Much the same. – although news is suggesting that cases are rising, not only here, but abroad, too.

• 18,450 people have been confirmed as infected with the virus today
• 506 people have died in the community today from the virus
• 1.637 people have been admitted to hospital with it today
• 162 people died in hospitals from it over the last couple of days.
• We are on Day 14 of our Tier 3 – no announcement of the next Tier yet?
• And it is Day 272 since our original decision to avoid contact with people as much as we can.

Take care everyone. God bless.

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.

It being Sunday, I took myself off to church this morning and had an uplifting hour. The sermon was particularly apt – mostly it was about us not being in control of everything. Really? For us control freaks that’s a bit rough, don’t you think? Must take note.

When I got back I was surprised to see John was up and about, which was nice. So I sat at the breakfast bar with him and ate my belated breakfast, while he agonised putting his eye drops in.

Thereafter, it was a mission to get our Christmas cards written. Ah…. but before that, of course, it was time to visit Mum and see if I could get her Christmas cards written.

She was funny. Fast asleep when I got there, head lolling, bless her, but on hearing the door open she snapped upright as if to say, ‘What? Me? Asleep? Never!’ And then even funnier when I asked her if she’d had her lunch. “Oh, yes, I’ve had my lunch.” I wondered if she was sure she’d had it. She firmly announced that she was absolutely sure she’d had it. Hmmm….. I wasn’t convinced. And sure enough, there it was, nestling nicely on the work surface in the kitchen, still warm and unopened. Now, this seems to be a recurring scenario…..

After Mum had eaten her lunch, I wondered if she was up to some card-writing. Yes, she thought she was. And actually, she was up to it. Got tired by the end, and I culled some of the people on the list, but she saw it through and signed at least a dozen cards.

We had a laugh over it, too. She wasn’t sure who she was sending the cards to. I explained. She looked puzzled. I told her just to write ‘With love from Hazel’ on the cards and I’d put a sticky label on the envelope, so she didn’t have worry about who it was to. But she did worry. “Who is this one to?” she’d ask. I’d tell her. She wouldn’t know who it was. We giggled about it. She’d write the greeting and pass me the card back shaking her head as I popped it into the envelope. Then we’d giggle again. The pattern was repeated every time. At one point, I popped out of the room. She stopped writing. “What is it I am supposed to be putting here?” she asked. “With love from Hazel,” I replied. Ah… she looked relieved and carried on. And we giggled again.

I count the visit to Mum’s as a success. Cards were mostly written and, for those that weren’t I shall just send a little explanatory note to explain why. And, once I was home, another success. I got out all our cards and labels and set to on our list too. John even helped me. I wrote the cards; between us we enveloped them; and John stuck the address labels on. A proper little production line. Whoop! Whoop!

Not a lot else, other than watching the Grand Prix, which seemed to be a bit toothless this week, Strictly, which was fairly predictable, and then, the jewel in the crown: Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing. What a wonderful programme that is. A celebration of a friendship and a shared hobby. Marvellous. We both thoroughly enjoyed it.

John has also had another go at the shower cubicle but it’s not quite completed yet. Maybe tomorrow?

In the meantime, people are still being infected with the Coronavirus and dying as a result of it. I don’t think it’s ever going to end. The weekend figures are always slightly lower, so don’t look quite so bad, but there’s still a lot of people suffering.

• 18,447 were confirmed as having contracted the virus today
• 414 people were confirmed as having died from the virus today in the community
• 104 people died from the virus over the last couple of days
• Today is Day 12 of our Tier 3. Only 2 days to go before they announce any further restrictions. Which of course they will. We’ll still be in Tier 3 until Christmas.
• And it’s 270 days since we started this little game of hiding at home as much as we can.

Take care everyone. God bless.

It was Freddie’s birthday today. Not sure if you would class it as an essential journey, but I made the trip over to Kenilworth, called into the balloon shop and stood on the path outside Paul and Harriet’s to offer Freddie a birthday balloon and his birthday gift. I might have been testing my eyesight and doing what every Grandmother would do to look after their family. So it was an essential journey to me.

The outcome of the journey filled my heart enough to help me get through the next few weeks without the family face-to-face. There were bucketfuls of love and pleasure and excitement as I watched Freddie open his presents and skip about with the balloon. What do you reckon, folks?

John wasn’t up and about this morning so didn’t come with me, as it was a fairly early visit. The Kenilworth Sleaths were taking Freddie out for the day over to Warwick, so needed to head off by about half-past ten. And, in fact, John wasn’t up when I got back either. He’d fallen fast back to sleep after I left and didn’t get up until lunchtime. I think he felt better for having had a good sleep though.

Meantime, I simply pottered about at home with this ‘n that. Wrapped a couple of gifts ready to post on Monday; looked into printing off the labels from the computer to send the Christmas cards – but found I couldn’t do it; filled the washing machine, then the tumble dryer; emptied the washing machine, then the tumble dryer; looked with horror at the pile of ironing I’d generated, hid the basket in the dining room and shut the door.

I also did a bit of ordering online in an attempt to get something for friends/relatives at Christmas, and, on a whim, decided to order myself a second pair of jeans. The first pair I ordered from Next were such a brilliant fit and exactly what I wanted that I thought I’d get another pair to replace the other threadbare trousers I have hanging in the wardrobe.

The only trouble with the order was that it was ‘click and collect’ only. Shall we brave it? OK, we’ll brave it. So we nipped into Touchwood in Solihull. John stayed in the car and waited, engine running, while I ran down to the shop. Hmmm….. I thought we were Tier 3? Honestly, it was rammed. People were milling about, wandering into the shops as if there was no crisis at all. It made me anxious just walking to the shop, in and out, and back again. But there were people without masks strolling about and certainly very little distancing in evidence. There were crowds, and it was a struggle to get past people or stay clear of them. I am definitely not doing that again.

I have puzzled as to why the numbers of infections have been going up despite the measures the government have put in place. Now I know. Nobody is taking the blindest bit of notice as to whether we are in Tier 3 or Tier 2 or anything really. I suppose, if you are healthy, the threat of catching the virus doesn’t seem very serious.

And, indeed, I saw Lily today when I dropped Freddie’s gift off. She waved at me from the lounge. I called to her, “How are you?” She nodded, and called back that she was better. But she had had a migraine last week for the first time in her life, which may have been a COVID-related thing – or not, we don’t really know. But she’s bounced back beautifully from the virus, and I am very grateful for that.

Anyway, in other news, I was just on the computer doing some ordering, when my phone rang. “Hello?” said a voice on the other end of the line, “Can I speak to the next of kin?” Erm…. I wasn’t sure how to answer that. Next of kin to whom? My tummy turned over. But it was nothing untoward at all – it was about me mother. “We’d like to book your Mum in for the Corona virus vaccine.” Oh….ahh…..I see. Do you know, I hadn’t clocked that they were going to deal with my Mum first? Of course I know she’s over 90 and in the priority group, but it just hadn’t registered.

It’s made me smile though today, in a wry sort of way. The vaccine will prevent Mum from becoming very ill with the virus. Yippee! It might add other ten years to her life. The vaccine will not prevent her passing the virus on to us, however, if she’s been exposed to it and is asymptomatic. Yippee! She could kill us with a laugh. As you were, then folks, as you were. Masks ON!

After our little trip into town, John thought he’d try and mend our shower door and surrounding cubicle. It has been leaking water everywhere for years, so you paddle through oceans of it to get to the sink or the loo after you’ve had a shower. But today was the day. Not sure how successful he’s been yet – it’s still work in progress……but it seems he’s managed to do some of it. The rest tomorrow? Fingers crossed.

Oh, and by the way, I did manage to print labels off for the Christmas card writing. But only thanks to dear George again, who came to the rescue. I honestly think he’s got some magic going on. I mean, he only has to think about the specific computer we’re talking about and it will start to behave. Rather like a naughty child, the computers know who they can play up and who they can’t. Thank you very much indeed, George.

And finally, what a wonderful surprise we had in the post today. I am sure we should have waited, but our curiosity was roused when an unexpected parcel arrived for us. Wow! How exciting to get the book by Andrew Cotter, ‘Olive, Mabel and Me’, from Michelle and Tim. Another heart-filling moment, thank you very much.

So here we are again, thinking about all those poor people who are poorly with COVID; seriously ill in intensive care, or who have died from the virus. For the majority, life goes on, but let’s spare a thought for all those suffering now.

• 21,502 people have been confirmed as infected with the virus today
• 10,482 people have been admitted to hospital with the virus in the last week
• 519 people have died in the community from the virus today
• 206 people have died in hospitals from the virus over the last couple of days
• It is Day 11 of our Tier 3 (whatever) since Lockdown 2 ended
• And we’re on Day 269 since we began the high alert and ‘stay-at-home’ routine in March

Do take care everyone. God bless.

Although I woke up early this morning, I really didn’t get going very well today. Everything seems to take me such a long time to do these days! And then, when I’ve done something, I have to have a bit of a sit down afterwards. Do you reckon it’s my age? Might have to start thinking of retiring….

Anyway, despite the feeling of life crawling at a snail’s pace, the days seem to whizz by and, goodness me, it’s Friday again already! It was only yesterday that it was Tuesday, wasn’t it? And there’s only a couple of weeks to go before Christmas – and I still haven’t sent my cards out or done the Christmas shopping. John keeps telling me to chill out and not to worry about it all, but he doesn’t have to get everything bought, wrapped up and distributed, does he? Ah, well, I am sure it’ll all turn out OK in the end.

After finalising the decorating, I found myself in a position to actually do a bit of tidying up today. Which, in actual fact, was quite nice. We can get into the dining room without fighting anything now – although, to be fair, some of the clutter in there has been (and still is) the grandchildren’s birthday/Christmas presents which take up an inordinate amount of space. Not only that, but I managed to clear all the work surfaces in the kitchen of the papers and bits ‘n bobs that were littering the place. I have yet to sort the papers, mind. That’s a job for another day…..

One thing that John and I were both focussed on today was a mission to try and get John’s eye drops delivered. He has a specialist product for his eyes which comes from Liverpool. Normally, a good couple of weeks before he runs out, either he, or the company that makes the product, gets in touch to confirm the drops are on their way. Unfortunately, John didn’t do the confirmation and neither did the manufacturer, and so he has run out. That’s not the best thing when your eyes are already sore, is it?

Well, we have made phone call after phone call to try and get the delivery sorted but we are no further forward. Just waiting on the consultant to do a prescription, but we don’t know if the consultant knows he’s got to do it…… We’ve left messages with his secretary so we’re keeping our fingers crossed. Maybe Monday? In the meantime, John is in for a torrid time of it, I think, until they arrive.

I left John at home at lunchtime while I went to the local garden centre to see if I could pick up a few gifts for Christmas and had a great time browsing. But then there’s the realisation that buying a heavy bulky gift for a friend is probably not a great option as it’s going to have to be sent through the post. Dang!! That’s annoying, going to have to think again about gifts.

When I got back home, John had been having a wonderful time playing poker on the computer – his new hobby. He tells me it’s not costing him anything yet….. and he carried on playing his game while I had a sit down on the sofa after my shopping jaunt.

That was when I got cross with myself because I thought I should be getting on with something. It didn’t stop me sitting for a bit longer though….

Other than that, we’ve not done a great deal this evening. John did a little repair job on a set of lamps we’ve got, replacing the switch; and I did a little repair job on the tarpaulin cover of Michael and Danielle’s gazebo. Then we have both watched TV in separate rooms. I am not quite sure why or how that happened, but I was ensconced on the sofa watching the tribute to Barbara Windsor, and John settled in the kitchen with a bottle of wine and a thriller to watch. And there we are. The day is done and now it’s the weekend.

With the news being all doom and gloom in lots of ways, I think I may switch off and just focus on the good things this weekend. It’s Freddie’s birthday tomorrow and we’re going to go over and stand at the end of the path and wave at him in the morning. Can’t wait.

As we prepare to crash out of Europe with all that that entails, the figures on the COVID front don’t make pretty reading either:

• 21,672 people have been confirmed as infected with the virus today
• 424 people have died from the virus in the community today
• 192 people died from the virus in hospitals on 9 & 10 December
• Today is Day 10 of our Tier 3 since Lockdown 2 ended
• And today is Day 268 since we self-isolated in March.

It’s a long haul isn’t it? Is anyone feeling weary yet? Oh, I think that might be a rhetorical question.

Take care everyone. God bless.

I am feeling rather pleased with myself today. Why? Because I used the SnuGym this morning. And it worked extremely well, thank you.

Thursday is Yoga day, when Jaime streams her class via Zoom into our homes. Up until now, I have shifted furniture to find space for my mat in the lounge. Today, it was simply a matter of rolling my mat out, setting up the laptop and Bob’s your Uncle! There was plenty of space for me to wave my arms about and stretch out, so I was in business immediately.

There was only one drawback – and we already knew about it – and that was the howling great draft that whistles under the door leading to the garage. No problem at all when I was standing up and generally creating warmth through the activities. But, as soon as it was ‘lie down on the mat time’ at the end of the class, when we were doing our relaxation, it was a bit chilly. Mind you, I had a solution to that. I swiftly plugged in the heated over-blanket I had bought recently, and tucked myself under that. Cosy, cosy. I shall do that again next week. *Does a little dance*

After yoga, I fortified myself with some breakfast, having got up too late to have some before the class. And then pottered about doing a few little jobs and nipping up to the shops for a card for Freddie, whose birthday it is on Saturday. He’s going to be 5. Where did the years go? Surely it was only yesterday that he was just born?

After I’d done my few jobs, I sat down for a few minutes. And I am not quite sure how it happened, but the next thing I knew, it was half-past three. Crumbs! I’d been asleep for hours! I think this may be the third time that I have zonked out after yoga. Is it trying to tell me something?

Meantime, John has spent the day fighting the dishwasher. It has been very naughty and decided to conk out totally. “I’ll have a look at it,” John said, and promptly pulled the thing out into the middle of the kitchen. But, you know, things are never simple are they? The battery was flat on the multimeter, so he wasn’t able to check the flow of electricity to the machine. ‘I know,’ he thought, ‘I’ll message Anne while she’s at the shops to get a battery.’ Great idea, except I had forgotten to take my phone with me, despite telling him to phone me if he thought of anything he needed!

Anyway, suffice to say, despite the multimeter being up and running once a new battery was installed, it only showed that the dish-washing machine was dead and not to be resurrected. Time to buy a new one. And blimey!! Aren’t they expensive? John spent all afternoon trawling the internet to find a replacement that a)would be reliable b) didn’t cost thousands, and c) was in stock.

I woke up from my slumber just at the defining moment of ‘shall we get this one, or this one? Or this one that’s out of stock?’ You can imagine the contribution I made to the decision-making process, can’t you? Half compos-mentis, it all seemed a bit complicated to me. But, John thinks he’s ordered one. And it might come before Christmas. Or not. Watch this space.

I am not sure what I did then, but whatever it was, it was wonderfully interrupted by a video chat to William, who was keen to share with me a little note that he’d found in his money box from Grandma Hazel. It was lovely to see them all, and we had a laugh. The Sutton Sleaths often hanker after a bigger home, However, why do they need more space, when each and every one of them, including Chester, the dog, all want to crowd into one square metre together to be close and cosy? Whenever we video chat, that’s just what they do – squeeze in, squeeze in!!

We were still chatting when the doorbell rang, and who should be standing there, but darling Paul? He was calling to collect the birthday present that they’d had delivered to our house to keep it secret from Fred-Fred. Oh, it was so lovely to see him! We didn’t chat long, but just to see his beautiful face and hear his voice, there in our porch, is soul-filling. What a wonderful boost to the afternoon, seeing two of our three men.

This evening it was a Zoom-In with the College girls, and lovely it was too. So nice to see everyone and have a gentle chat to each other. I do love them. We were all bemused by the fact that Christmas ‘won’t be the same’ with some of us making plans to meet our families outdoors. But, better to be safe than sorry, eh?

And that has to be our mantra, surely? Because the figures of those who have been infected and died are shocking again. And it looks like the government will have to put several more areas of the country into Tier 3.

• 20,964 people have been confirmed as infected with the virus today
• 516 people have died from the virus today in the community
• 185 people died in hospitals on 8 & 9 December
• We are on Day 9 of our Tier 3 today since Lockdown 2 ended.
• And today is Day 267 since the beginning of our Lockdown 1

C’mon people!! This is madness now! We really need to take extra care. It’s not rocket science after all, is it? Ah well, horses and water…..

Take care everyone. Stay safe. Do all the stuff we’re supposed to. And God bless.

You know you’re stressed when you start shouting at other road users, don’t you? Well, that was me today.

We had got up early to toddle off to Heartlands for John’s treatment of immunoglobulin at 9 o’clock, so it wasn’t even rush hour on the way back. I’m pootling along quite nicely when the road narrows into one lane due to road works, and there’s a long line of those rather beautiful cones, in which I wish I had taken out shares. I am not going very fast – maybe 23 miles an hour, as the traffic has slowed – and I am just about a car length behind the car in front, but not such a gap that would invite anyone in, when another car comes screaming up on the narrowing outside lane, and pushes its way in front of me. I braked and felt irritated.

But not as irritated as I felt when he pipped his horn at me!! What? ‘Scuse me? How is that my fault, you donkey? I pipped my horn back. He leant on his horn, so I leant on mine…. etc etc. I might have shouted a few obscenities from the safety of my car, too. He eventually turned off, but not before he’d done that stupid thing of speeding up and then braking hard in front of me. Grrr……. Idiot.

I treated myself to a hot chocolate and a pain aux raisins when I got home to calm me nerves. I sat on the sofa and brooded about the incident, but then cheered myself up by watching last night’s Master Chef. I was about half-way through the programme when Harriet face-timed me, which was really lovely. It’s not often we do that, so I really appreciated it. We had a great natter and she made me laugh – especially as she was wearing a hat indoors. “Why are you wearing a hat, Harriet?” I wondered. “Ah, well, I didn’t have time to dry my hair last night,” she replied, “and it’s a bit of bed-hair day today, so I’m hiding it!”

Regrettably, we had to finish the call hurriedly though, as the hospital were phoning to let Harriet know that her Dad was going to be discharged tomorrow. Having said goodbye, I decided to keep the pause on my programme and get up off the sofa to see if I could lug the bed-settee, which has been residing in Andrew’s sitting room, down the stairs, on my own. Rather than pay for a new sofa, for which I might pay thousands (perhaps a slight exaggeration) I thought I’d finish off the library area with one of the many settees we have here, so that I actually have somewhere to sit in there.

Being a bed-settee, it conveniently comes apart, so I managed to bring one piece of the sofa down, but I couldn’t manage the other piece. It was far too heavy. I had a good look at it and realised I could take it apart a bit more, so readied myself to find a spanner to undo the nuts holding it together. By the time I got downstairs though, I thought I’d just finish off my programme and have a rest before I did any more. Just as I’d settled, John phoned. “Ready for collection.” he said. “OK, I’ll set off in a minute.” I replied. However, it was a good fifteen minutes later that I set off, by the time I’d watched the programme to the end, and then gathered up my bits and pieces. Poor John had stood out in the cold for a while waiting when I finally arrived….

Bless him. When we got home, he could see what I was doing with the settee and offered to help. Between us, we unbolted the second piece and trundled that downstairs, then man-handled the main bulk of it into situ, with much puffing and blowing. The library looks cosy though – ready for a bit of reading….. maybe tomorrow?

After lunch, I decided to take the bull by the horns and see if Danielle might be up for a bit of a walk round the park at the back of their house. I’m having withdrawal symptoms, and missing, not only my sons and grandchildren, but my daughters-in-law, too. After a bit of a chat on WhatsApp, in which Danielle said Thomas was having a mega-nap, and then a telephone chat, we did agree to meet up. Honestly, I was so excited! John came too, for his daily exercise, and then, a bit of a bonus, when we arrived, Michael said he’d join us as well.

It were lovely and cheered me up no end. Made me chuckle as well, too. Grandpa pushed the pram and Thomas did nothing but grin at him. Michael sauntered alongside, with Chester, the dog, and Danielle and I set off at a pace. Danielle always does that ……. I remember when we kept losing her on our weekend away in Amsterdam….. Anyway, the chuckle was that Danielle and I lapped John and Michael twice! Tee-hee-hee! Missed seeing William though, who was at nursery. Next time, William. Next time!!

And tonight was Quiz Night. Yay! Always, always fun. And tonight was no exception – although parts of it seemed like a marathon, and we spent ages and ages disagreeing, or not listening to each other over Zoom, until the Quiz Master had to intervene and ask “So, have you got an answer for that one? Or not? Are you ready for the next question? Or not?”

With the day over, I’ve had a look at the stats. I make no comment other than to note that the volume of people being infected doesn’t seem to be coming down much or quickly, despite the current measures in place.

• 16,578 people have succumbed to infection of COVID-19 today
• 533 people have died from the virus today
• 169 people have died in hospitals on 7 & 8 December
• Today is Day 8 of our Tier 3 since Lockdown 2 ended
• And we are now on Day 266 since Lockdown 1 started and we hunkered down for what we thought might be 12 to 16 weeks.

Take care everyone. Do your very best to stay safe. God bless.