A bit of a fillip

I don’t know about you, but I am bored of myself and our goings-on now. There always seems to be some crisis or other in our household, and really, I have been thinking that it’s about time that changed.

So, we are pleased to report that, today, there was no crisis and we had a very nice day. We went over to Paul’s for a barbecue at their new house. It was lovely and we had such a good time. We thought that the weather would hold out, and it mostly did, although we did get a few hailstones occasionally. Paul had been and bought a new barbecue, which worked a treat and so our lunch was delicious.

However, I am now at the age where the kids take the micky. I am a ‘little old lady’ to quote youngest son. And today, micky-taking was to do with spicy food. Paul cooked some spicy chicken and, on trying it, told us that it was quite spicy. I took some and it immediately numbed my tongue. “Gosh, it is spicy!” I exclaimed, “The chicken is very spicy….blimey, my tongue’s on fire,” which prompted much amusement and micky-taking…..’watch out for the chicken, it’s spicy!’ Oh, alright, alright…..

I am glad they can tease though. It’s amusing and good fun to be able to laugh together at each others’ foibles and know, despite it all, that they love you anyway. Yep, it was a great afternoon and a bit of a fillip.

We haven’t really done anything else. We got up late, and took a while to gather together all the chattels we need for outdoor entertainment and eating these days: thick overcoats, hats and scarves; blankets in which to wrap up warm; eyedrops to sort out our ailing eyes; and, because we were at Paul’s and they haven’t actually moved in yet, we took some food in the form of salad and sauces; we gathered plates and cutlery; and liberated a bottle of champagne to toast them once again.

This evening we did some homework. We watched the James Bond film ‘Diamonds Are Forever’. Our homework was set months ago by our Centre Stage Quiz friends, which required us to have all James Bond films as our specialist subject. Regrettably, we’ve been in detention a lot, because we hadn’t even started our homework until today. Thoroughly enjoyed such a classic – although it’s not awfully PC now, I wasn’t too offended. Picked up one or two ideas for quiz questions but I am not sure how much I will remember of it if anyone else asks us questions…..

And that’s it. Mum had a settled night last night although was confused at teatime yesterday and wanted to go somewhere, but she wasn’t sure where. I think she finally decided she’d like to go home. They settled her and she was OK today and still being monitored. They may want to discharge her tomorrow but we’ll see. I’d like to have chosen a care home for her to be discharged into if we can, but if not, I don’t know how we’ll go on. Watch this space, folks.

In the meantime, COVID cases are still stable – but it’s the weekend, so not sure how accurate the figures are today.

• 1,730 people tested positive for the virus today
• 7 people died with the virus in the community in the last 24 hours
• 6 people died in hospitals with the virus on 9 & 10 April
• And it’s Day 14 of the lifting of Lockdown 3; Day 384 since Lockdown 1; Day 390 since our self-imposed Lockdown 1

Take care everyone. God bless.