Month: January 2021

I always have a long list of ‘things to do’. I rarely get through the list and, now that I am older, I am finding that the list is getting longer before I’ve even started! Now, this may have something to do with being a lazybones and hugging my bed. For example, this morning, I woke at about 8 o’clock and, immediately all those tasks whizzed and whirred around in my head, leaving me exhausted before I’d hardly surfaced. Daunted, I lay back down again and snoozed a bit longer. In the end, I decided that I was going to rest awhile before tackling the ever-exploding house, and finally got up at 11 o’clock, having word-gamed, puzzled and read for a while leaning up against my pillows like Lady Muck.

Once I was downstairs, it was brunch time, so I got on and cooked paleo banana pancakes, drizzled with maple syrup and scattered with pecans, raspberries and blueberries – as per the nutritionist’s instructions to create a rainbow at every meal to improve John’s health. Hmm….. not sure I found any green to go into it though….. Anyway, it was very nice and it set us up for the rest of the day.

Thereafter, the plan was to whizz through some housework, visit my Mum and then relax this evening. Unfortunately, the whizzing didn’t happen. I laboured, more like – and even then, the toiling hardly bore fruit as there’s still more to do. I think it’s mainly because I get distracted and start titivating.

On the titivating note, I am pleased to report that John has been busy with setting up the radiator covers. I suggested that it would be good to do the hall one first, so he got on with that. All very good progress but, as with every piece of furniture that you don’t move for months on end, there was an awful lot of fluff behind the radiator that needed a clean-out first. Anyway, he has done it and I think it looks really nice.

John moved on to setting up the next one in the lounge – a small one just under the window by the telly. By now, he’s a bit tired but determined. I was in the kitchen when I heard a bit of a crash. Nothing major at all, and all it took was the dustpan and brush to sweep up, and a couple of plasters……. We now have two light balls instead of three. But John was fed up by then, so I suggested he leave the rest until tomorrow. What he’s done there, though, also looks good. Ooh, we ain’t ‘arf posh!

I did get to Mum’s and she was on fine form. I have been limiting my visits because of the news about the variant virus and neither John nor I having had the vaccine yet. Trying to be careful. Anyway, she was very cheerful and chatted happily to me as I went about the flat sorting a few things out. There had been a report this week that she had lost her false teeth, but all was in order when I got there and she couldn’t remember where she had found them in the end.

True to form, Mum’s memory remains poor and she’s struggling to recall people and places. I was the bearer of bad news when I had to relay the message to her that her lifelong friend, another Hazel, passed away last week. I explained that she had been in a care home for the last three or four years suffering from dementia. A fact that Mum really couldn’t remember. She recalled Hazel as being a friend but struggled to bring her to mind. Naturally, she was very sorry to hear the news and promptly said she’d need to send her condolences. Fortunately, I found a sympathy card in amongst Mum’s spares and she was able to sign it, ready for me to send it.

We always have a bit of a giggle though, and today was no exception when we were talking about the carers coming in. She said they were very nice and could be helpful ‘sometimes’. Ah – just sometimes, Mum? And that was when the giggling started – no, they didn’t get her dressed and washed in the morning, she didn’t think they did anything much. Not even get you your breakfast? No, she didn’t think they did. Then she wondered if they did. Then she realised she couldn’t really remember and she was at all sure what they did. Well, at least she’s good-natured about it all – that’s such a relief. I mean, there wasn’t a single criticism of me today, just ‘thank you for all you’ve done, dear’.

I wasn’t in the mood to carry on with any of the things on my list when I got back, so we did relax this evening and watched TV. Started watching the Pirates of the Caribbean which is always a great romp, but John got fed up half-way through so we swapped channels and I chose to watch The Masked Singer instead, which is of no intellectual value at all. John chose to vacate the lounge and watch a thriller on the TV in the kitchen.

• 23,275 people tested positive for the virus today
• 1,200 people died in the community today
• 423 people died of the virus in hospitals on 28 & 29 January

Who’d have thought it? We’re nearly at the end of the January and we’re still incarcerated. Day 25 of Lockdown 3 and Day 317 since last March.

Young Arthur is still doing OK and his Mum and dad are beginning to climb down from the shock of it all. Heavy times ahead with daily visits to the hospital though, so please keep sending positive thoughts their way.

And the cats are still sniffing their new beds but not going in! Any tips?

Take care everyone. God bless.

I groaned. The alarm had gone off and I didn’t want to get up. I knew I had to though, because Mark was coming to cement in the bits of the porch where the render had dropped off when he was doing the windows. John was awake too, so he said he’d run down and be around for when Mark arrived. Ooh, I was pleased. Another hour in bed, thank you very much.

Once I was up, I did a little more washing for the Sutton Sleaths, having collected another load yesterday. And, for a treat, I thought I’d iron the bedding and the trousers. I don’t know about you, but we hardly iron at all these days. The tumble dryer sorts the creases out and if you fold the clothes immediately they’re dry, there’s no creases at all. However, there are some things I do like to iron, and that is bedding. Nothing nicer than getting into bed under nice, crisp sheets.

A few house-work-y type things after that and then the door bell rang. An exciting piece of equipment was being delivered. John had ordered an all-singing, all-dancing car ramp to lift the Lotus up electronically. That’s going to be fantastic once he gets that going. He does love a toy.

John spent a fair bit of the day doing his sums. He was sorting out his finances to be able to report in to his financial partner and our eldest son, Paul. Eeh, I love it when there’s an equality between us and our boys.

A bit later on in the day, we had another delivery. This time, some radiator covers. Historically, we haven’t had those but we thought, being posh now, we’d hide the manky radiators. Of course, there’s a little bit of adjusting to do, so John will be as happy as a sandboy sawing them to size.

We were just preparing our evening meal when the front door bell went again. Another delivery. This time, it was cat beds. We are hoping to keep the cats out of the lounge for fear of them sharpening their claws on the sofas (which they did, many years ago, when our other sofas were new). Denied entry to the lounge they are at a loose end and wander about wondering where to settle. Fingers crossed that the new beds work. Shadow has sniffed one of them…. is that a hopeful sign?

After we’d eaten, we sat to watch some TV, catching up on things we’d recorded. It has to be said that we both nodded off temporarily every so often as we watched. But we had to stay up because we were waiting for a late-night grocery delivery, which finally turned up at 9.15. By the time we’d washed the shopping and put it away, we were good for nothing and flopped on the settee, too tired to get ourselves up the wooden hill to the land of nod.

With a row over the COVID vaccine deliveries with the EU, more Brexit shambles looms and I wonder what the morrow will bring. We’re falling out with our former partners already and we’re not yet a month in! I tried to get some information about when to expect John’s immunisation today but the surgery weren’t able to tell me. “It’s the community nurses who are doing the home visits.” the receptionist said. Ah, yes, we know that. “Do you have their number then, so that I can contact them and find out?” No….. of course not. So we’ll be patient and wait. Or impatient and wait.

The numbers of people infected with, and dying from, the virus is steadying, I think, so I am really, really hopeful that by Easter things will have eased just a little bit.

• 29,079 people tested positive for the virus today
• 1,245 people died from the virus in the community in the last 24 hours
• 430 people died in hospitals on 27 & 28 January

In baby news, young Arthur is still responding to the treatment on offer, and we saw a wonderful video of him today, stretching out his legs. There’s now a debate as to whether he’s going to be a footballer or a rugby player. Dawn thought his action looked just right for dropping a goal in rugby, but Ben thought that he looked like he’s got a mean right leg for shooting at goal in footy. My money’s on the footy.

So Day 24 of Lockdown 3 and Day 316 of the long lockdown draws to a close, and I am thankful for our blessings.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Our days may be on repeat, but some repeats are worth going through again and again, aren’t they? Not that house-work-y type things are worth going over and over, but I didn’t mind getting the paintbrush out to finish the last lick of paint on the skirting board and the architrave in the lounge today. There was a definite sense of satisfaction as I ticked that one off the list. The only painting to do in there now is the window frame. I know, I know, I should have done that before everything else…. but who’s to know I didn’t, if I don’t tell them?

I spent the early part of the morning gathering up the washing that I’d done for Michael and Danielle and then, just after 11.00, it was that blissful hour of yoga in our SnuGuym, which continues to be a perfect retreat for such an activity. Really enjoyed stretching out and reminding my body of what it is supposed to do. Repeat this bit of the day? I don’t mind if I do.

After I finished yoga, it was time for my singing lesson again. I have decided that I am a very slow learner. I know much of it is to do with confidence, but… keep a beat? Erm… that’s a bit rocky. Stay in tune? Rocky also. Sing out, so that I can be heard? Rocky? Yep. Despite all of that, I enjoyed the lesson and Melissa assures me that I will get better, because I’ll get the hang of it soon. Hope so, or there’s not a lot of point in having singing lessons is there? And I’d have this bit of the day on repeat again, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, John was toiling at the computer, studying the vagaries of the poker game. Made theoretical money, but puzzled over one player who went ‘all in’ but lost and only had a few shekels left, only to be on a par with John a few hands later. Well, something along those lines anyway. Don’t ask me, I have absolutely no idea how to play the game!

This afternoon, we returned the washing. Without the immediate return of clothing, I think there might have been naked boys running about….When we arrived, Danielle was out, having taken the boys to the park, so I thought I’d stretch my legs in that direction too. It was a lovely and most enjoyable walk. Yes, please, let’s repeat that bit of the day to hold in my heart again and again.

We didn’t do a great deal once we were home, other than prep and eat our evening meal and then watch a bit of TV. We watched mind-numbing drivel in the form of ‘Death in Paradise’ and thought it was probably not worth watching in the future. It reminds me of the sorts of stories you made up as a kid but didn’t actually know what the plot was and got lost half-way through. Ah well, it stopped us thinking about the COVID and Brexit horror stories anyway.

I was cheered by the news that little Arthur is doing OK. Saw a fabulous photo of him today with Ben holding him. Heart-melting? You bet. That’s another moment of the day that I wouldn’t mind if it was on repeat.

I was also delighted to hear that my friend Eileen is not COVID-positive. Although she hasn’t been well, it’s not the dreaded lurgy. Phew.

So, to the figures for today. The trend is as yesterday, with infections going down but deaths going up or plateauing.

• 28,680 people tested positive for the virus today
• 1,239 people died in the community from the virus in the last 24 hours – a slight drop.
• 445 people died of the virus in hospitals on 26 & 27 January

Although I’d love to repeat some of the wonderful parts of today, I’d really not like to be repeating the lockdown days. Today is Day 23 of Lockdown 3 and Day 316 of the ‘long lockdown’ and it’s ‘doin’ my ‘ead in’!!!

Take care everyone. God bless – and, if you fancy it, let me know the bits of your day you’d like to repeat. I’d love to hear about them!!

You know some days are odds and sods days, aren’t they? Today was a bit like that. Didn’t quite get to do some of the things on my ‘to do’ list, because I did other things instead.

First up, we were out and about early, making a journey across to Heartlands for John’s appointment with the immunoglobulin nurses at 9 o’clock. Good journey, with not a great deal of traffic, although a bit more than I expected, given that it’s still lockdown. Normally, we allow about forty-five minutes to get to the hospital. Today though, we were there in about 25 minutes. Not bad.

Instead of going straight home, I called in on the Sutton Sleaths to gather up some of their washing. The washing basket had exploded and, like the story of the magic porridge pot, it kept on going until the whole house was covered in never-ending piles of clothes to be washed.

I remember those days. When the baby has three or four changes of clothes in one day, because they’ve crawled through something nasty or dribbled something down their fronts. And the toddler has played in mud up to his knees and elbows, or come back from nursery with paint on the first set of clothing you sent him in, and tomato ketchup down the ‘spare’ set. Not to mention your own clothes where one or other child has dribbled all down you and the dog has jumped up and left muddy paw prints on your best jumper.

Yep, I remember those days very well and don’t envy all those going through this at the moment. It’s very hard going, like walking through treacle. So I brought a few bits back with me to see if I could lighten the load for them. The only thing is, once I’ve done these few bits and taken them back, they’ll have to put them away. That’s always a difficult part of the washing cycle. You’ve either got piles of dirty washing, or piles of clean washing when you’ve got a young family, as far as I can tell!

I collected John at mid-day from the hospital but it hadn’t been the best experience for him this time. First of all, the nurse put the catheter in his right hand, but it didn’t go into the vein, so when she started pumping the immunoglobulin in, his hand started to blow up like a balloon. Ah. Let’s try the other arm. That was OK for a while, but twenty minutes or so before the end, the needle had wriggled out of the vein and another balloon manifested itself – this time in the left arm. Oh. Let’s put it in the back of your left hand instead. Oh, and by the way, Paneesha wants some blood samples, so can we have a go at your right arm again please? Poor John. He was battered and bruised when he eventually came out and could hardly make his way to the car, he was so exhausted.

No peace for the wicked though. Once we were home John thought he might rest and have a sleep. But for once, he didn’t fall asleep. And then he had to fill in his tax return. Eeesh…..

Meanwhile, I offered to set the quiz for this evening as it was our turn to be Quiz Master. To be honest, I was a bit nervous of doing it because the quizzes I set previously were pretty poor really. However, I contacted Janet and Trevor who are quizzers extraordinaire, to see if they had anything that might help. Janet very kindly sent me three of the quizzes that Trevor had set in 2012. They were very useful and I used some of the questions – but not before I had been tutored by Trevor on how his quiz worked and how the questions linked together. In the end, I didn’t put the links in – they had gone over my head…….

John cooked our evening meal again tonight and it was absolutely delicious. We had veggie burgers on paleo bread rolls, topped with vegan cheese and a side of salsa. Yum!

And then it was Quiz Night. And it went OK. John even managed to see it through to the end. And we had a laugh. At one point, Nigel misheard a comment from Malcolm which had us all giggling in the aisles. My sides and cheeks were aching with all the laughing I did. Such good fun. So very grateful for the gift of friends and shared laughter.

The numbers of people contracting the coronavirus is coming down, which has lifted my spirits today. It looks like the lockdown measures are beginning to work. The deaths of course, are not reducing in number though, are they? But…. hopefully this week will see the peak and then they’ll start coming down again. Fingers crossed, anyway.

As a result of the data, Mr Johnson announced that we’re to stay in lockdown until at least March 8th. Oh, gawd. That’s a horrible, horrible feeling. It leaves me feeling hollow and bereft. Oh, my. Don’t what else to say.

• 25,308 people tested positive for the virus today
• 1,725 people lost their lives in the community to the virus in the last 24 hours
• 461 people lost their lives in hospitals to the virus on 25 & 26 January
• On a positive note, immediate friends and family are being called in for their first dose of the vaccine, including Linda, who was phoned at 4.45 and told that, if she could make before 5.30, the vaccine team would oblige.

Today is Day 22 of Lockdown 3, with lots more to come. We’re also on Day 315 since our withdrawal from the mainstream last March. At least, I think that’s the right figure…. beginning to lose count now.

But, baby Arthur is out of intensive care and being monitored in the high dependency unit, so he’s doing OK. Alleluia! That’s all I can say.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Instead of being busy, busy, busy, I chose to sit and reflect today. I have a long list of things to do, but something triggered this morning and I remembered my yoga guru, Jaime, reminding us that we are ‘human beings, not human doings’. So I thought I’d just be for a while instead of do, do, do. Although don’t get me wrong, I still did things but just at a soft pace.

I deliberately snoozed the alarm this morning and thought, ‘I’ll get up when I re-awaken’ with the expectation that an hour later I’d be up and about. In the event, it was nearly 11 o’clock before I surfaced. Dear John brought me a cuppa and I sat up, enjoyed the view from the window for a while, and then did e-puzzles, e-jigsaws and read my book for an hour before I got out of bed. Such a lazy, lazy morning. It felt like a holiday.

John, meanwhile, was downstairs, surrounded by his medical bits, tending his eyes, tending his lungs and also gazing out of the window. The snow was still in evidence and it was still a delightful view out the back. Disappointingly, we haven’t seen any birds at the bird table I bought John for Christmas, other than the pesky, and very greedy pigeons, who seem to monopolise the thing. I mean, the pigeons are as fat as flawn already and hardly need feeding up!! I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the other birds will soon find their way to the yummy food on our table.

Once I’d arrived downstairs, I started to muse on what to eat. John had had his breakfast hours ago and was ready for a light lunch, so in the end, I brunched and John lunched before John shot off to the garage to pore over his car, and I meandered into the lounge to decide what to do next.

There was a final coat of paint round the doorway to do. There were a couple of pictures to hang. There was a final, final sort-out of the library. And the mending of the handle on John’s desk. I chose the least important thing and decided to fiddle with the handle on John’s desk. It has irritated me for all the years we’ve had the desk, so I was determined to tidy it up. Of course, in the end, John had to help me, bless him. As if he hasn’t got enough of his own stuff to do!

I hung the pictures and I sorted out the last bits of papers and pamphlets in the library before sitting in it and reading a different book to the one I was reading upstairs. As I sat, I could see out of the window to the front of the house. I could watch people walking by. So I did that for a bit too. It was exceedingly pleasurable. I love a bit of people watching.

We are not sure that we recognise ourselves in the lounge though. We are delighted with it, but it feels a bit like a hotel lobby. We’re expecting to have to collect our bags and go up to our room any minute, where we can flop, and just be ourselves. And not only that, but we have had a passing thought that maybe we should discipline ourselves and eat in the kitchen or even the dining room, so that we don’t drop food and drink on the sofa. Ha! Not sure how long that will last!!

John has come to the conclusion that he must remove the body of the Lotus and inspect the chassis in every detail from above rather than underneath. There are tales being told on the forum of brand new chassis (not from Lotus, but from another supplier) being fitted, only to find they are out of true, being sent back and another one fitted with exactly the same problem. We are beginning to wonder if this might be the case here, because John believes it to be a new chassis, not a re-claimed one. We’ll see. However, suffice to say, he’s unbolted a lot of the body and he might soon be ready for me to be helping with the lift.

In other news, I have, of course, been a little anxious as to how Liz and the baby are today. As it turned out, Dawn texted me just as I was about to text her! She says that baby Arthur is responding well to treatment and Liz seems better after the shock of it all yesterday. That was very good news.

Also via the social media button, we heard that an offer on a house that Paul and Harriet had been looking at, had been accepted. Goodness me, that was unexpected but such exciting news. The house looks lovely and the garden isn’t too big – just right for a few border plants and a game of football. So, it sounds like there’s a move on the horizon!! Not only will we not recognise ourselves at home, but we won’t recognise ourselves when we go to Paul’s next, either.

We watched a short burst of the news today and I am relieved to hear that the rate of infection continues to fall. Obviously, not so happy to hear that the rate of deaths is still going up but, given the government strategy of ‘Let’s have Christmas off’, it’s really not surprising at all.

• 20,089 people tested positive for the virus today
• 1,631 people died in the community
• 422 people died in hospitals on 24 & 25 January
• That’s over 2,000 people in one day
• And we have hit a horrible milestone, of 100k people dying from COVID over the last year.

Can we have a new strategy, please? One in which lots of people continue their lives instead of losing them unexpectedly? Too many people affected – and surely, it could have been avoided? We are now the worst affected country, with 155 people dying for each 100k of the population. It’s time for weeping isn’t it?

That’s all today. Not a bad day – nice and gentle. And, if only we didn’t have to think about the COVID situation, we’d be hunky-dory.

Take care everyone. God bless.

The birds were a-twittering very loudly this morning. I tried to ignore them but to no avail. I think they must have wheedled their way into John’s (un)consciousness too as, at 7.30, he suddenly leapt out of bed and asked me if I’d like a cuppa. Well, that would be very nice, thank you. So we were awake early to a glorious morning with the sun shining in a clear blue sky and on the glittering snow. The scene from our house across the garden and the houses opposite was magical – a real winter wonderland.

Having drunk my tea, I got out of bed. John wondered why. “Ah… Mark is coming to finalise the porch, isn’t he, this morning?” I like to make a show of being up and about even if I am bleary-eyed when the workmen rock up. As it turns out, the porch is not yet finished. Poor Mark was freezing working out there and his fingers were going numb. But it wasn’t his fingers that were stopping him, but sand. The sand, to make up the mortar for the pointing and filling up of the gaps, was a frozen block solid in the back of Mark’s van. There was no way he was going to tease that out to make decent mortar. See you on Friday then?

While Mark was working away in the porch, I busied myself moving what I think is the last of the books into my bookcase. It was very exciting. I came across books that I haven’t taken any notice of for ages, and felt interested enough to put them on the shelf of books to be read. Had to laugh at myself though – you always get a bit distracted with these things don’t you? Anyone remember Rinso? Well, I don’t particularly, but I came across a tiny little paperback book called ‘The Rinso Book of Knowledge’ – full of all sorts of interesting facts and figures. I doubt that many of the those facts and figures will be current, but it was interesting to browse through nonetheless.

Just before lunch, the doorbell rang and standing there were two rather burly-looking young men. “Mrs Sleath?” one of them enquired, very politely, “We’re from Thomas Hearn. Come to deliver your sofas.” Zipperdee-doo-da!! Oooh, I could hardly contain myself. They came in and inspected the old suite to be shifted out, then toddled back to the van to make room for it. I opened all the windows and patio doors in anticipation of their re-entry. I also laid out some dust sheets to absorb the clods of snow being brought in on their hob-nailed boots.

And, well, that was it really. They grunted and groaned and lifted and pulled and pushed; slotted seats together and plugged them in and there we were. New three piece suite in place. No sweat. Well, not for me anyway. I think they sweated a bit, despite the very cool air infiltrating the room.

After the delivery men had left, John and I thought we should try the seating out. We thought it would be rude not to. John sat in the corner seat and reclined it. I did the same on the sofa, and snuggled into a bee cushion. We had the TV on. It was soporific. I felt my eyes drooping. I heard John gently snoring. And there we stayed all afternoon. I perused me Rinso book of knowledge, played some e-scrabble and did an e-jigsaw or two, and John slept. It was delightful.

We didn’t do a great deal else later either. We ate, but were keen to stay snuggled in watching the box. After all, I thought, I deserved a rest and a bit of a treat after all my hard work, so why not? All good, all as expected and all rather satisfying.

However, the evening had hardly started, when I took a phone call from Dawn. Not sure how, but almost immediately that she said, ‘hello, how are you?’ I knew something was up. Well, it was exciting news. “I have a grandson,” said Dawn. Gosh! Wasn’t it only yesterday that I’d seen a rather lovely photo of Liz with nine weeks to go? Well, that was unexpected, wasn’t it?

Thrilled and excited, but obviously concerned because the baby has arrived rather early, I wholeheartedly offered congratulations and immediate healing thoughts over to the hospital for him and Liz. The baby is cocooned in an incubator for now, until he develops a bit more, so prayers or good thoughts, please, for the health and safety of mother and baby would be appreciated, if any of you are so inclined.

Healing thoughts are still needed for people falling ill with the virus too, of course, but happily, the infection rate is continuing to come down.

• 22,195 people tested positive for the virus today
• 592 people died in the community from the virus
• 324 people died in hospitals from it on 23 & 24 January
• Today is Day 20 of Lockdown 3 and Day 313 since we chose to hide away last March

So, there we have it. A day to remind us that we must always expect the unexpected. And a reminder that we must deal with that ‘unexpected’ the best way we can.

God bless. Take care and stay safe.

‘Variety,’ they say, ‘is the spice of life.’ I have to agree. Today has had rich seams of goodness flowing through it today – all very different, but all very enjoyable.

Martin Luther is quoted as saying, ‘I have so much to do that I shall spend the first three hours in prayer.’ I didn’t quite spend three hours at it but, being a Sunday, I took time out for prayer first thing this morning, before I did anything else. I even composed a prayer for others to reflect on and sent it to the members of my prayer group. That is a first for me. I have always thought I didn’t really know how to pray – and certainly couldn’t write a prayer – but it’s amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it, isn’t it?

Soon enough, it was time to get out of bed. Having marvelled at the snow on the ground and sent a picture of it to the family – as excited as a five year-old – I thought I’d better get on with the final bit of wallpaper hanging and do grown-up stuff. So that saw the morning off.

John was up and about too, doing his medical stuff, which takes a great deal of time in the morning, but once he’d treated himself to breathing aids, eyesight aids and hearing aids, he was up and running. No stopping him today. He cleared the kitchen, which is like the Forth Bridge – no sooner cleared and tidy than it’s exploded again. Then he re-hung the lamp on the wall where we’d been papering. He did a little bit of work on the computer and put his thinking cap on for what to do about the Lotus.

Unexpectedly, we took delivery of a newspaper this morning for the first time in months. And it came about because we have such very thoughtful friends. Bryan and Linda were passing our house and wondered if we’d like a paper, or anything else, from the shops as they were going? Well, yes, please. How very kind of you to think of us. Such a treat – thank you very much.

Later on this afternoon I took time out from my decorating to ‘Zoom-in’ to do a writing course for a couple of hours. Fascinating to hear others talk about their writing and to crystallise some ideas. The course was a ‘Writing for Wellbeing’ course and in this session we focused on journalling. And now I know the difference between writing a blog, keeping a diary and keeping a journal. Also learnt some tips on how to discipline yourself to sit and write.

Meanwhile, John took himself into the garage to do some more inspection and measuring of the underside of the car. Hmm…. some problems were quite evident, and he puzzled over which bit, where, was actually causing the problem. Helpful suggestions have been forthcoming from a forum he’s posted questions on, and dear Chris, a fellow Lotus enthusiast, phoned him up to chat through some ideas yesterday, which was so thoughtful of him. Problem not yet solved though.

I put the final piece of wall paper on the wall before we had our tea and did a hop, skip and a jump in celebration. I offer you the view into the library area – wallpaper featuring the lotus flower, a symbol of purity, enlightenment, self-regeneration and rebirth. We could do with a bit of that, thank you very much! Although I think we might have to get used to it…..

After we’d eaten, it was time to get ready to Skype Graham and Gail. I was very excited. It is quite a long time since we had seen them. We’d chatted on the phone at Christmas and just after, but hadn’t sat down and really nattered on camera. It was lovely. They both looked well – Gail is recovering very well after her operation – and it was a delight to see them. And, in fact, we couldn’t tear ourselves away. After a couple of hours, I thought John might be feeling tired, but no, “Let’s carry on a bit longer,” he said.

We normally Skype in the computer room, but we decided to sit in the lounge and chat from there, so that we could feed the picture from John’s laptop to the large TV screen, and lounge about on the sofa. This was very good from our end, but Graham noted that, because we were looking at the TV screen, we weren’t actually looking at them. Not only that, but they were distracted by the view of the soles of my feet as I sat with my feet up. Ah…. very disrespectful, apparently. Right. In the echoes of my mind, I think Pete and Dawn might have said something similar….. hmm…. must remember to change positions for future Skype-ins.

In between times and throughout the day, my phone would ‘ping’ every so often with a photo of the children playing in the snow. Oh…. how very jealous I was not to be with them!! Freddie on his sledge, hurtling down the hill on Abbey Fields, filled my heart to see such fun; and William, chasing round and round the garden with his Uncles James’ puppy in tow, then lying in the snow to make a snow angel. Even Thomas had a go at doing that! The photos were all so beautiful and happy.

Then another heart-filling moment as Liz, my darling god-daughter, sent through a photo of her and her ‘bump’ – 9 weeks to go….. she looked so well, happy and pretty proud of herself. Can’t wait for another addition to the kidzone.

All in all, a good day. So many different things going on today that my soul was uplifted and, this afternoon, when asked to write down how I feel right now, I couldn’t help but write, ‘I feel good. Content.’ There you have it. The power of having spent time in prayer this morning?

On the virus front, things continue in the right direction, although it is the weekend, so maybe the figures will surge tomorrow. Hope not.

• 30,004 people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours
• 610 people died in the community
• 328 people died in hospitals on 22 & 23 January

Day 19 of Lockdown 3 and Day 312 since the March kick-off for isolation hasn’t been too bad after all, even though we’ve been confined in our own home. Nearly a year in, do you think we might get the hang of this lockdown lark?

Take care everyone. God bless.

Yes, please, Vicar! More of the same. The plan was to get up early and get on but, in the end, I didn’t ease myself out of bed until 9.30. By the time I’d done all the early morning stuff like ablutions, breakfast and taking John a cup of tea and his tablets, it was almost 11.00 before I even started thinking about the decorating.

In the event, I did get on with it. I thought, if each piece of paper took me an hour to put up, I might get three, or maybe four, pieces on the wall. As it turned out, I did all of the wall that spills from the library into the lounge. It’s amazing how long each bit takes though. The instructions were to allow the paper to soak in the paste for ten minutes before handling it. Well, that was good, wasn’t it? It meant that I had a rest just before I popped the next strip up.

There was lots of measuring and trimming and tutting and sighing. The first piece was complicated. Not only was it two different wall measurements, but it went round a corner and a beam too. I cursed a little bit because, unexpectedly, the paper was prone to tear. Had to do a patch job on the first piece. Ah, well, a blind man on galloping horse would like to see it, I expect. However, I wouldn’t like anyone who likes perfection to give any of it a close inspection. The fiddle around the plugs doesn’t bear close scrutiny either. Where’s that galloping horse with a blind man on it?

Despite the difficult bits, I was quite pleased with my efforts. Just the wall in the corner of the lounge itself to do now. Probably tomorrow. John, bless him, stripped that bit for me while I did the rest of papering.

Once I’d put the first piece up though, we looked at each other and wondered if we’d made a mistake. It’s quite dark – well, darker than the light beige that we had on previously. “We’ll have to get the lighting right on it,” John suggested. Hmm…. OK. But, to be honest, once I’d put the rest up I thought it didn’t look too bad. In fact, I thought it makes us look quite posh. We’ll see once it’s all done. If we really don’t like it we’ll have to change it, won’t we?

Towards the end of the day I scampered about trying to have a bit of a clear-up before cooking our evening meal. John was absolutely exhausted after all that scraping, so he had a sit down and promptly fell asleep for half an hour. I got on with cooking before nipping up for a shower and a bit of a rummage through my wardrobe. We were going to be taking part in a murder mystery even with Centre Stage members, so we thought we ought to look the part. John even looked out his dickie-bow to wear. He did look nice.

I had to smile to myself though. Rather than trawling through all the lovely clothes I’d recently bought and slimmed down for, I thought I’d select an old favourite LBD. Now this little dress has always been on the slightly big side for me, which is why I chose it. I thought I’d feel nice and comfy in it. Well, I did feel comfy but, what a shock – it only just fitted. Fatty Sleath step forward.

Really enjoyed the Murder Mystery though. The actors played their parts very well and people asked lots of interesting questions trying to suss out who the murderer might be. With every murder mystery I have taken part in though, I have to confess, I always think that the plot is rather thin – leaving the guessers very little to really go on and it’s just pot luck as to guessing whodunnit. As chance would have it, I guessed right, but not for any discernable reason over anyone else really. Ah well, it was a bit of fun – although perhaps half an hour too long?

What was particularly delightful about the evening though, for me, was the sight of so many familiar faces. Just lovely to see everyone. There are one or two new members as well, so that was nice to see, too. Mind you, they are new to me, but I think they’ve been in the group for about three or four years, it’s that long since I was actually in anything and went down to the school hall join in.

Whilst we’ve been inward-looking and creating a new environment in our home, of course, there has been a world out there still dealing with the virus. A not-very-nice news story of how an hospital in London is (or isn’t) coping with the volumes of people coming in with COVID, really set my teeth on edge. It’s still distressing isn’t it? I am certainly not inured to it all yet.

• 33,552 people tested positive for the virus today
• 1,348 people died from the virus in the community today
• 403 people died in hospitals on 21 & 22 January

We are now 18 days into Lockdown 3 and 311 days since we chose to stay in and isolate in March last year. It’s a long haul and we know it will go on. Good job we’ve got things to keep us entertained here at home, eh? Now, where shall I decorate next?

Take care everyone. God bless.

The decorating, that is. Skirting board is painted, door frame has one coat and the wallpaper is stripped. I am sure you will be delighted to know that we’re on the homeward straight! I am hopeful that tomorrow will be the final day, with the wallpaper going up, but we’ll see. Then the sofa on Monday? Fingers crossed. *Does a little dance*. So, coming soon, in through your email Inboxes: no more boring decorating stories….. phew, that’ll be a relief then.

I was up early again today to greet our man, Mark, who is doing the porch. He was hoping to have it finished today, but he found the quirks of John’s building technique and had a little fight with one or two of the walls and beams as he tried to fit the windows in. He grinned ruefully as he admitted that another half-day is needed, after all. We’re classy here in the Sleath household, you know – nothing is ever straightforward.

John spent some time reviewing the underside of the Lotus today, humming and hawing over the measurements and trying to decide by just how much the wheel base/chassis is out. Is it 8cm or 4cm? And what will that do to the handling of the car? Sounds to me like it’ll drive like a crab, sideways. However, lots of thought going into how to rectify what might be a tricky situation, now. And possibly might need me to hold a spanner or two at some point. I mean, I’ve passed my apprenticeship and held the end of a tape measure twice this afternoon, so the spanner might be next?

We were so tired after our exertions today that, when I ventured into the kitchen where John was having a bit of a tidy-up, we both said, “Let’s have fish ‘n chips tonight.” Not wanting to spend too much time inside the shop, I thought I’d phone the order through. However, even at 6 o’clock, they were saying the next slot wasn’t until 7.30. Ah. We were peckish, so I ventured out to queue. And queue I did – all the way down the road to the end of the former NatWest building. Crumbs!! It wasn’t too bad though, in reality, as everyone was giving everyone else a very wide berth so, in essence, there weren’t that many in the queue really. And the fish ‘n chips were extremely tasty once I got them home.

And so the day has gone, just like that, in a flash. We are both ruing our achy bones and wishing we were younger, admitting that our minds are racing ahead as we slowly try to catch up physically. Oh, my goodness! I sound like my Grandma. She used to tease me often and suggest that I’d know what she was talking about one day. I never thought that day would come, yet here it is. Mind you, we’re still keeping on, keeping on, if you know what I mean. We’re not sitting on our laurels – oh no, we’re still fighting the good fight, thank you very much. Although, John did spend the morning ostensibly watching the cricket, only to find he was inspecting back of his eyelids instead, not long after he’d got up…… tee-hee.

We watched a bit of TV this evening and I noted that there wasn’t a great deal of news today. It’s mostly COVID-related or Brexit-related and not much of it very cheerful, so maybe I won’t watch the news this weekend. Give myself a rest. On the topic of the virus, of course, it’s a semi-hopeful story, in that the number of infections is coming down, albeit not very quickly.

• 40,261 people tested positive for the virus today
• 1,401 people died of it in the community
• 544 people died in hospitals on 20 & 21 January
• And the hospitals in Birmingham, where we go, are very full. In fact, the busiest of all the hospitals at the moment.

As we anticipate more lockdown days, I am viewing our current incarceration as nearer the end than the beginning. Hoping beyond hope that we’ll have some more freedoms come the Spring. It’s Day 17 of Lockdown 3/Day 310 since March 2020 and we’re still doing OK – well, mostly.

Take care. God bless.

A day to look forward to – that was today. I set my alarm for an early start. I even got John up early – although that wasn’t anything to do with the exciting day ahead.

Today was the day when the porch was going to get a makeover. Our man, Mark, who had done our windows for us about 18 months ago, had quoted us for new windows and a door in the porch. We agreed the quote, and so he texted earlier in the week to say, ‘all systems go’ for today and tomorrow.

Ooh, I was so excited that I leapt out of bed at 7.30 to make sure the porch was cleared and ready for its spruce up. By the time I got to the bathroom though, I thought it felt a bit nippy. Ah well, it is earlier than I normally slink out of bed. Anway, I got dressed and decided to put an extra cardigan on while I waited for the house to warm up a bit. Except it was never going to warm up, was it? Blooming boiler wasn’t working.

I sighed. Gone were thoughts of clearing the porch and in came the tumbling thoughts of what to do to get the boiler on its way again. I tried all the things I was supposed to but it didn’t want to play. Next stop: turn the electricity to the boiler off and wait a bit, to see if that would galvanise it into action once the power was put back on again. Hmmm. There was the rub. I couldn’t quite work out where to cut the electricity. Had to get John out of bed.

In the meantime, Mark had arrived and between us, we bundled the things from the porch into the hall, before he got on with his work. Then John came down in his dressing gown to have a look at the errant boiler. I now know where to cut the electricity, folks, for future reference. However, even superman couldn’t sort the boiler out, so I was on the phone to our man Steve, who has looked after our central heating and boiler needs for many a year. Yep. He’d come sometime today.

Well, that was a more exciting start to the day than I was anticipating! I ran around the house digging out heaters and placing them at strategic locations to keep us warm, and set the fire going. It was lush. Thoroughly enjoyed sitting by the fire with me cup o’ tea!

After I’d done all of that, it was time for an hour of blissful yoga. I had set a heater in the SnuGym too and, although there was a bit of a chill in the air, it was warm enough for a yoga session – and, of course, at the end when we did the meditation bit, I wrapped myself up in the electric over-blanket. Another lush moment.

No sooner had I finished yoga than I was thinking about my singing lesson, which was due half an hour later. Music and YouTube at the ready, I Zoomed in to Melissa, my singing teacher, and had a great lesson. A reminder that I can sing, if only I can summon up some confidence.

Steve arrived mid-lesson and he soon found that it was one of the motorised valves that had stopped working. “Have you got a spare?” I asked. “Always,” grinned Steve. He duly fitted the part and packed up his bag to leave. “Will you send us the bill then, Steve?” I said. “Nah. It’s OK – it’s a freebie!” I protested, “Steve, you can’t do that! Let us pay you.” But he was out of the door and on his way. Well, would you believe it? Mark raised his eyebrows.

A bite to eat and a little spat with John over posting a parcel, with a bit of ‘you said/I said’ stuff and a clear misunderstanding, before we started thinking about a bit more decorating. John wondered if he could help and I thought, yes please, he could. How about starting to strip the wallpaper? Okey-dokey. Where’s the scraper? Erm…. you had it last….. oh, did I? Well, John searched high and low but couldn’t find it, so he had to run out and buy a couple of new ones. By the time he got back it was too late to start stripping. I did mange to get the first coat of paint on the skirting board though. Yippee!

Meanwhile, Mark had made good progress on the porch and it’s looking something like. Can’t wait to see it finished tomorrow.

John cooked again this evening, for which I was eternally grateful. It felt like I’d had a very busy day. Although I think he’d had a busy day too. He got up early, which was different, and he’s still learning poker so that’s quite taxing, believe it or not. Honestly, it is so complicated!!!

This evening was a delightful ‘Zoom-In’ with the College Crew. Do you know that, this September, it will be 50 years since we all first met? Crikey!! That’s a long time, isn’t it? We are wondering whether we will be able to celebrate like we did for our 40th anniversary. Keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to!! The evening went by very quickly and we had a fascinating chat. Lovely to see everyone – although we missed Linda, who was trying to sort out curtains in her new house, and Janet, who wasn’t feeling up to par tonight. Another day when I counted my blessings for having such a wonderful group of friends.

While all that was going on, of course, people have been struggling with COVID. Very sadly, I heard from my cousin Cath, that her cousin, John (on her Mum’s side), lost his life to COVID and died yesterday. No underlying conditions. Just COVID. Saying prayers for him and all the family – and if you are so inclined, please remember them in your thoughts and prayers too.

• 37,892 people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours
• 1,290 people died in the community
• 481 people died in hospitals on 18 & 19 January

Please take care everyone. God bless.