Not really the Monday Blues, more like the Monday Slows. We had a bit of a restless night one way and another, so both woke up groggy and bleary-eyed. However, we got up at a reasonable hour and spent the morning pottering about with this and that. I had failed to sort out my paintbrushes properly from my decorating spree before Christmas, so thought I’d have a go at clearing them up; and John concentrated on reading the instructions for installing the dashcam he’d bought me for my birthday, for the car.
I merrily faffed about in the utility room, but started to feel a little green at the smell of the white spirit. John merrily faffed about with the dashcam and went out to the car to set it up. He came back in, however, to see if I could give him a hand – or, more precisely, a second pair of eyes. Black on black is not easy, is it? He baulked however, at the smell of the white spirit. “Blimey! What have you been doing?” he wondered – or words to that effect. Well, I’d only gone and thrown the old white spirit down the plughole, hadn’t I? And rinsed it away with a bit of hot water. “Haven’t you seen those programmes where chemicals mix and blow up in the sink?” John asked. Ah. Might have. On the other hand, the information might not have lodged in my memory bank….well, I’ll know for the next time, anyway. Sorry, sewers.
We went out to the car to see if we could winkle the black wire into the teeny, weeny little gaps in the black upholstery and make it stick. As it turned out, we did manage it successfully between us. I was rather pleased. That is, until John said, “And now we’ve got to wire in the camera for the rear window.” Darn it! I thought that was it!! Finish it tomorrow?
We came back in for a cuppa, opened all the windows and doors to let the smell out of the utility room and ensconced ourselves in the lounge to watch the lunchtime news. We wrapped ourselves up in blankets – against the imaginary cold that the open windows might let in, you know. And then we both nodded off for an hour.
When we came to, neither of us could be bothered to press a button on the remote control so we carried on viewing the channel that was on – first, Escape to the Country and then, a programme about a couple of families getting ready for a farmers market, The Farmers Country Showdown.
Chalk and cheese, that’s what John and I are. As we watched the programme about the market, I was delighted to see such an array of fresh vegetables and looked on enviously as people bought giant curly kale or Romanesco broccoli or massive leeks. “Look at all those lovely vegetables!” I exclaimed. “Don’t they look wonderful?” John curled his lip. Then he got excited as the camera panned to a cake stall and lingered on the pastries, the gingerbread men, the millionaire shortbread and the lemon drizzle cake. “Now, you’re talking!” he said, turning to me with a challenge in his eyes. We laughed. Chalk and cheese. Well, it’d be boring if we were all alike, wouldn’t it?
This evening we have had a lovely time Zooming-in with Dave and Chris, and George and Sue. Our trial run had worked with Dave & Chris and they were on and set up really well. George and Sue didn’t appear initially. I texted wondering if they had received my invitation. Nope. Oh…. I re-sent it. It transpires that the invitation had gone into George’s junk mail and so they were in blissful ignorance that the session had even started.
Anyway, we had a great chit-chat and even managed a political discussion. No surprise there really, I suppose. John was rapidly sinking a bottle of white wine and had opinions to share. George is always up for a debate and, I have to confess, I happily joined in and supported John’s arguments today. Dave and Chris watched on. Fortunately, we’ve been friends for such a long time that this is not new and they know when to keep shtum.
We grinned as John told us about a programme he’d watched about how the immune system is compromised by alcohol, and we looked pointedly at the now empty bottle next to him. We chuckled about it but I don’t think John saw the funny side.
We also chatted about the current situation. We bemoaned the ‘stay-at-home’ instruction and mourned the loss of our freedom to meet our families. We agreed that the government had been too slow to act from the very beginning, but we all thought that lockdown was probably the only way to get back on an even keel until the vaccinations are all done. Hard, isn’t it?
- 46,169 people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours
- 529 people have lost their lives in the community to COVID
- 309 people lost their lives in hospitals on 9 & 10 January with COVID mentioned on their death certificates
Day 6 of Lockdown 3 (Day 299 since the March inception of lockdown) has been a slow day, and I think John may be suffering from the blues. I’ll know tomorrow. It’s to be expected though, I suppose. It’s mid-winter, isn’t it? Must get the sun lamp out!
Stay safe everyone. Look after yourselves. God bless.