Friends

Thank goodness for friends. They enrich our lives in all sorts of ways, don’t they? And today was no exception.

We were up at a reasonable time again today – in my case because I was planning to be over at Mum’s flat to do more clearing, and in John’s case because he was planning to go out this afternoon to a ‘farewell’ meal with Nigel and some fellow-Masons.

Nigel has been a great friend for John, teaming up at the Masons, offering him a lift to meetings; being that friend who has called round to take him up to the pub; encouraging him to go for a walk and chew the cud. He’s been grand company, too, at our weekly quizzes, lifting John’s spirits with his wonderful sense of humour and bonhomie. John enjoyed his afternoon out today and is certainly going miss Nigel’s presence in the village when he moves away on Friday.

I toddled over to Mum’s flat this morning and found that clearing it out is taking more time than I thought it would. I may have previously pointed out that she has a lot of paper. There are letters, of course, and empty envelopes and invitations for parties long passed, with a little note saying ‘replied’; there are newspaper cuttings – seemingly hundreds of little, tiny slivers of paper declaring the recently hatched, matched or despatched individuals whom Mum knew; there are notepads galore, fancy writing paper pads and notelets; and poetry, scribbled on a scrap of paper ready to neatly write out into her volumes of exercise books; there are bills and statements and advertisements – absolutely every possible thing you could think of, I found it. Fascinating history, but very little of it for keeping.

John was a little scornful about the process I might adopt for doing the sorting at Mum’s flat, saying, “I bet you’ll go through every single item, won’t you?” Erm… yes, probably, well – likely, actually. So I was rather pleased that I had Anita on hand today. She has kept me on the straight and narrow all day. I am addled by the volume of things in the flat, and sentiment threatens to overwhelm me. Gently and without any judgement, Anita steered me through it all, bringing it into focus, especially when I said I was struggling to make a decision on whether to keep an item or throw it away. But I did feel slightly vindicated in going through every single item when I found my grandfather’s birth certificate nestling in amongst a load of tat!

The advantage of sifting through the flat’s contents with a friend is that you can share the wonder of things, like, “I wonder why Mum kept clothes tags?” and share the excitement of things found, “Look at this!” when I found a newspaper picture of myself in a play when I was 17 years old, or the one of John as a teacher at Barr’s Hill doing some project or other. And then it was nice to sit at the end of the day and have a cuppa together and just chat. Yep, very, very grateful for good friends.

John had eaten a meal at the Saracen’s Head at lunchtime with his friends, so he wasn’t worried about having an evening meal. Andrew phoned just as we were sat chatting at the breakfast bar in the kitchen, so I poured myself a glass of wine. What I think was intended to be a ‘quick chat’ turned into a long chat and, by the time Andrew rang off, I’d imbibed another glass of wine and was thinking of a third. We went through to the lounge to watch a bit of TV, where I promptly fell asleep on the sofa for an hour or so. Must’ve been the wine….

The news is full of the Dereck Chauvin court case and the verdict today that he has been found guilty of the murder of George Floyd in America. It is also full of what, in my opinion, is an absolutely ridiculous story of football, with the government threatening to get involved in scuppering a new European Super League. Looks like it might peter out, but really, I think everyone has lost their marbles and sight of what is really important in the world – especially when you hear that the fancy new daily briefing room, that cost £2.6m to re-decorate, is now to be simply used by the PM and his officials instead!! Rant over – must’ve been the wine…..

Anyway, the COVID figures are about the same – no-one is yet talking about the trend being anywhere other than steady, which is a relief.

  • 2,524 people tested positive for the virus today
  • 33 people died with the virus in the community in the last 24 hours
  • 18 people died on 17 & 18 April with the virus in hospital
  • It’s Day 23 since the lifting of Lockdown 3;
  • Day 9 of our new, limited freedoms, where we can play in each other’s gardens;
  • Day 393 since Lockdown 1; 
  • Day 399 since our self-imposed Lockdown 1

Take care everyone. Hope your days ahead are filled with love and friendship. God bless.

The sun has got his hat on

Woke up to the most glorious sunshine today. And wasn’t the sky blue? All day! Fabulous.

We had a slow start to the day but soon got a wriggle on when we remembered we were doing a ‘virtual house viewing’ at ten o’clock. This is a house, next door to Paul and Harriet’s, that Paul wondered whether we’d be interested in.

We logged in and it started well. However, after a little while, the estate agent was saying, “…..and this is the downstairs bathroom…” Hang on a minute, our video hasn’t caught up yet! “Oh, yes, I see that your connection is orange. I’ll wait for you to catch up. There you are, you’re green now, can you see the bathroom?” Err….. no?

And this is how it went, on and off for about forty minutes. Eventually we decided to go downstairs and log onto John’s computer, thinking it might be the internet connection on the computer upstairs. No sooner had we logged on and the estate agent said, “…..so, we’re upstairs in the loft space….” Well, we weren’t. And it definitely wasn’t our internet that was the problem. “Okay. No worries,” she said in her sing-song voice, like it was no trouble at all. “I’ll wait for you to catch up.” And then we had a power cut. What a palaver. “Shall I send you another link and we’ll carry on tomorrow morning?” the estate agent wondered. Yes, OK.

But actually, now that we’ve had chance to think about it some more, we think maybe not…..

We decided to take advantage of the sunshine and sit out in the garden with a cup of tea after all the faff of the virtual tour. Bliss. The birds were singing their hearts out, and that made us think about a recently-arrived parcel. A monocular. To view the birds if we can. Neither of us seem to be able to get on with binoculars, so we wondered if a monocular might be better. We are excited about it because you can attach your camera to it and take photos if you want.

However, I was ready to throw the thing in the bin. I couldn’t get it attached to my phone properly, nor could I focus the darned thing. Mr Technical Fingers took over, however, and sorted it out. We have yet to work out how to focus the bloomin’ thing though! Flowers at the bottom of the garden? Maybe.

Fired up by our ‘virtual tour’ of a different house, we thought we’d do a bit of research into what’s available locally. We looked at bungalows because, you know, at our age….. After a while, I looked at John and said, “Why are we looking at bungalows? We don’t want to live in a bungalow!” John nodded, true, true. We started looking at houses in our price range instead. Oh my goodness. No, thank you. John shrugged. “I don’t think we’re ready to move yet, do you?” Relieved, I replied, “No, I don’t think we are.” So that’s that for now.

I am not sure exactly what we did this afternoon – I did a few chores, tidying up, putting the washing on, writing an email to Mum’s new care home, chatting to Michael and Danielle; and John sorted out an important purchase on the internet: some hedging. That was very exciting and burned a big hole in our pocket. Expensive, hedging, isn’t it? Not only that, but it’s going to burn our muscles planting it, too. I hate digging holes.

This evening we watched TV and that was our day. I did a few minutes stargazing as I locked up for the night, marvelling at a waxing crescent moon, creamy white in the sky and so very bright. I also admired the little fairy lanterns I’d bought recently that were twinkling in the dark. Lovely. Chilly though. Roll on the warmer weather!!

And, after an insistence by the government that it was safe to travel to and from India, they have now decided to put that country on the ‘red’ list – but not until Friday. Honestly, I have no idea how their minds work. COVID and any of its variants, clearly won’t be infectious in between now and then, will it? Heaven help us all.

  • 2,963 people tested positive for the virus today
  • 4 people died with the virus in the community in the last 24 hours
  • One person died on 18 April with the virus in hospital
  • It’s Day 22 since the lifting of Lockdown 3;
  • Day 8 of our new, limited freedoms, where we can play in each other’s gardens;
  • Day 392 since Lockdown 1; 
  • Day 398 since our self-imposed Lockdown 1

Make the most of every day, folks, and keep safe. God bless.

Sunday

We were up reasonably early today and, what was very nice, was the fact that we actually ate our breakfast together. A rare and enjoyable treat. The sun was shining, too, so we enjoyed looking out on the garden. Of course, such a view reminds you that there’s jobs to do though, doesn’t it? With very little rain in April so far, some of the plants are looking a little sorry for themselves, so a little watering was in order.

I was surprised just how long it took to do the watering. It took me nearly an hour because I needed to drench the lawn that had been treated recently, too. I enjoyed my hour outside and decided, while I had my cup of tea, that I’d leave the hose on the rhubarb to give it a good drink. Only went and forgot I’d done that though, didn’t I? Toddled off to Mum’s flat at lunchtime to really start the clear-out and when I came back, John nodded towards the rhubarb and said, “What time did you put the hose on?” Ah. That would be about five hours ago then….. the house was beginning to float away. I don’t think John was best pleased.

John enjoyed the Grand Prix this afternoon and when I got back was just about to go and ‘do a bit’ in the garage on the Lotus. “Do you need a hand, John?” No – he was fine, so I nipped up to the shop to buy something for tea – I had forgotten to get meat out from the freezer.

We enjoyed our tea and mulled over our day. I can’t actually work out how we fell out, but we did. Something to do with Mum, of course, and all the time it’s going to take to clear things out. Hmm…. Fingers crossed it doesn’t take as long as we think it might. There’s an awful lot of paper though. That, and hankies.

Although it is Sunday, I didn’t get to church today, but I did sit and watch ‘Sunday Morning Stories’ on BBC1 today, which was uplifting. Other than that, we didn’t do any ‘Sunday’ things. We didn’t have a roast dinner, or go for a walk, or read the paper, or go to the pub. Meh. Maybe next week.

In the meantime, the COVID figures continue to stay steady, which is a relief. There are, however, lots of horror stories in the press about the latest variant. Scare-mongering do you think? I don’t know what to think.

  • 1,882 people tested positive for the virus today
  • 10 people died with the virus in the community in the last 24 hours
  • No data on how many people died in hospitals with the virus yesterday
  • It’s Day 21 since the lifting of Lockdown 3;
  • Day 7 of our new, limited freedoms, where we can play in each other’s gardens;
  • Day 391 since Lockdown 1; 
  • Day 397 since our self-imposed Lockdown 1

Stay safe everyone. God bless. I hope you have a good week ahead.

Turned out nice….

Well, thank you St Anthony! Remember I once lost my watch and rings and spend days, nay, weeks looking for them? St Anthony came to the rescue….. what was lost was now found. Ah…. and now St Anthony’s services were in demand today, too. Wait for it, all will be revealed…

Today started oddly for me as I my plan for the day was turned back to front, and I had to leave John to it this morning. I had leapt out of bed in response to an email that said, ‘Hi Anne, As you haven’t joined the workshop yet, just checking you’ve got the right link for today...’ What? The writing workshop is this afternoon isn’t it? No. I threw a cardigan over my nightshirt and logged on.

John tottered downstairs, made a cup of tea and, like Mrs Overall, wobbling the tea-tray precariously, he sidled into the computer room to place my tea on the desk. Not a drop spilled. Tea was a treat, thank you very much. Thought I was going to have to forego food and drink to stay involved in the writing course.

Just before 11 o’clock, we had a ten-minute break in our writing efforts, so I hot-footed it downstairs, to find ‘cat-something-nasty’ on the kitchen floor. I quickly cleared it up, made another drink and threw some blueberries into a yoghurt pot to eat ‘on the hoof’. Then I nipped into the lounge to let John know that it was all clear in the kitchen, but he was nowhere to be seen. Oh. Looked in the loo; the garage; the dining room; the bedroom and upstairs bathroom. He’d vanished. Where was he? I phoned him. “I’m just at the shops. Can’t talk any more… got too much on…” Right.

The ten-minute break elapsed and John wasn’t home. I phoned him again. “I’m just at the motorist’s shop,” he said. “Okay,” I replied. He sounded out of puff, “Do you want me to drive up and collect you?” I wondered. No, no thank you.

I went back upstairs. Just as I sat down, Paul phoned. They were thinking of coming over. “Can’t talk,” I whispered, “I’m on a course. Phone Dad, he’s around, and I’ll be finished by 12.” I heard John come in, I heard the Kenilworth Sleaths arrive. My course ended and I went downstairs to greet everyone where they were sitting in the garden. No Paul. “Paul not come with you?” I asked. “Yes, but he’s just gone up to the shops to look for Dad’s hearing aid.”

Ah-ha! It transpired that, despite nicely-sized ears, they are not quite big enough to accommodate hearing aids, spectacles and a mask, so John had taken the hearing aids out and popped them into his pockets – one either side.

On his walk back home, he’d stopped at every available lamppost – oh, sorry – every available seat, wall or lamppost, to catch his breath. In doing so, he’d taken each opportunity to take his hanky out of his pocket and blow his nose. Hearing aid, therefore, was deposited somewhere between our house and Tesco.

Paul had no luck finding the hearing aid. Asked in the shops but no joy. A bit later on, after we’d been running round the garden for a while, I suggested that Freddie and I walk up to shops to buy ice cream. “We can look for Grandpa’s hearing on the way,” I told Freddie. But, despite Freddie’s very eagle-eyes and keen interest in pleasing Grandpa, we came home empty-handed – although we did have ice creams.

After an absolutely brilliant afternoon with the Kenilworth Sleaths, enjoying the wonderful weather and playing all afternoon, we waved goodbye and then John said, “Let’s walk up to the shops. Retrace my steps.”

As we crossed the road in front of the motorist’s shop, I thought to myself that I perhaps ought to invoke St Anthony. I mean, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack, grey hearing aid on grey slabs, in amongst the litter and chewing gum stuck to the pavement.

We rounded the corner and John pointed to the wall he’d sat on for his second rest on his journey home. Perhaps we should look here….. and, well, would you believe it? There was the blighter, sitting on the corner of the wall. Good old St Anthony – prayers answered. As Dawn says, he’s never let me down yet!!

All in all, it was a great day. It was so lovely to sit out in the warm sunshine with the family and play ‘catch’ and Jenga and mooch about round pond watching the tadpoles, the frog, the newt and the fish. Turned out nice, didn’t it?

The news was full of Prince Philip’s funeral today; the surge in COVID cases worldwide, particularly India; and Brexit. But I didn’t focus on any of that, I was just delighted to have spent my day blessed with good and loving people.

  • 2,206 people tested positive for the virus today
  • 35 people died with the virus in the community in the last 24 hours
  • 9 people died in hospitals with the virus on 15 & 16 April

  • And it’s Day 20 since the lifting of Lockdown 3;
  • Day 6 of our new, limited freedoms;
  • Day 390 since Lockdown 1; 
  • Day 396 since our self-imposed Lockdown 1

Stay safe everyone. God bless – and perhaps take a look at this blessing that we shared together in our writing course today. May we….. recognise, realise, learn, respect….

 
  For Solitude
  
 May you recognize in your life the presence,
 Power and light of your soul.
  
 May you realize that you are never alone,
 That your soul in its brightness and belonging
 Connects you intimately with the rhythm of the universe.
  
 May you have respect for your individuality and difference.
  
 May you realize that the shape of your soul is unique,
 That you have a special destiny here,
 That behind the façade of your life
 There is something beautiful and eternal happening.
  
 May you learn to see your self
 With the same delight,
 Pride and expectation
 With which God sees you in every moment.
  
 - John O’Donohue
  
  
  
 from John O’Donohue, Benedictus: A Book of Blessings (London: Bantam Press, 2007) 

It’s Friday……!!!!

Friday night and a couple of beers. That’s nice isn’t it? Roll on the weekend!! Although, to be honest, I am not sure that a weekend feels much different to a weekday, but I plan to pretend it is.

Our day has been chalk and cheese. Slow in the morning, but on the go in the afternoon. John is feeling tired and a bit lethargic, so started the day playing poker and a-snoozing, I think. He did, however, feel emboldened to go out into the garage and put a wheel back on the car this afternoon. Galvanised by the delivery of concrete blocks on which he is going to place the body of Lotus when he removes it from the chassis, he thought he ought get out there and ‘do a bit’. Poor man was exhausted after his efforts. But he still cooked the tea…..

I also had a sedentary morning and spent it on the phone and computer, cancelling this, that and t’other, as well as talking to the care home about the care plan for Mum. It’s all a bit awkward, because I can’t settle Mum into her room. She is in isolation for 14 days, so it’s a bit of a struggle to know which of her items to set aside to take over, and exactly how much room she has got in the drawers and wardrobe over there. Currently, Mum’s wardrobe in her flat is full of clothes and it takes up a whole wall of the room. Her wardrobe in the care home is a quarter of the space.

This afternoon I went over to Mum’s flat to remove any valuables there might be. Well, I didn’t find much. I remember when we moved Mum from her house to the flat that I made a mental note that there was nothing of any real value, and it is no different now. But I did bring her purse home with me, which contained a tenner. Whoo-hoo! She’s rich!! I wonder if she’ll need the tenner in the care home?

As I say, John was tired after his heavy afternoon, and I was tired as well, so we opted to grab something from the freezer and re-heat it for our evening meal. John, despite his tiredness, said he’d sort it all out. And he did. The food was delicious.

Afterwards, we both slumped in front of the TV. I pressed play on three or four recordings, such as The Sewing Bee, The Great British Menu (two episodes) and Our Yorkshire Farm to while away the evening, not wishing to be challenged in any way. Just gentle stuff…..

I was surprised that I had felt emotional this afternoon, sifting through some of Mum’s things. Was it the anniversary card that Mum had kept from Dad? The inscription, ‘Happy belated Anniversary, Darling’ conjured an image of Dad, with a sheepish grin, having been given short shrift for forgetting the anniversary…..ah, dear Dad. Or was it all the cards Mum had kept from every family member and friend who are now dead? John’s parents, John’s Nanan, our grandma, our aunts and uncles – gosh, there were so many of them. And then, of course, there were the cards from the boys when they were little…… here’s one example, which I suspect was from Paul…..

Eeeh…. nostalgia! Gets you right there, doesn’t it?? But anyway, onwards and upwards as they say! There’s lots to look forward to, so I’m not dwelling on anything.

Paul and Harriet moved into their new home today, lock, stock and barrel. We texted them to see how it had gone and the reply came back: ‘We are in, just got to unpack the boxes!! Sitting in front of the fire instead.’ Well, that’s sensible, isn’t it? Pace yourself.

And the news continues to be full of Prince Philip, COVID variants and shootings of black Americans. It’s all a bit depressing, isn’t it? The COVID figures are still stable though, so far, so that’s good news.

  • 2,596 people tested positive for the virus today
  • 34 people died with the virus in the community in the last 24 hours
  • 6 people died in hospitals with the virus on 14 & 15 April
  • And it’s Day 19 since the lifting of Lockdown 3;
  • Day 5 of our new, limited freedoms;
  • Day 389 since Lockdown 1; 
  • Day 395 since our self-imposed Lockdown 1

Have a good weekend everyone. Look after yourselves. Enjoy the (slightly) improving weather and love your neighbour. God bless.

All change….

Tally-ho!! It seems like everyone is on the move! Paul and Harriet move tomorrow, Mum moved into her care home today, Malcolm and Caroline have finally found a house they fancy, Nigel and Hazel have chosen a nice rental while they search for their next home, and Michael and Danielle have their eyes on Jersey. Not only that, but Paul sent us a ‘house for sale’ that he thought we might be interested in today. That gave me the collywobbles….

I’d like to be outside, looking in. I’d like to see what you see. I’d like to know whether moving might be a good thing. Regrettably (or not, depending on how you look at it), I am extremely attached to our home and, although it may be time to think about ‘sizing to our needs’, I am not sure I want to take my mind there just yet.

Anyway, Mum was finally transferred across to the care home today but, of course, when she got there she wasn’t happy. She didn’t want to be there. She thought she was going home…..ouch. The home had asked for the full month’s supply of Mum’s pills, but the hospital hadn’t got them ready, so I agreed to make the trip across to Warwick then to Coleshill to collect and take them. That meant that I was able to see Mum for the first time in a week.

I wasn’t allowed in so I stood outside her window, shouting and gesticulating in the hope that it would make her transition easier. I think it did, but she spent the whole time repeating, over and over again, “I don’t know what’s going on,” – no matter how many times I told her that she was going to be looked after until she felt better. An economy of truth might be on the agenda for a while…..

Mum looked rather dishevelled, still in the gown supplied by the hospital, and covered in bruises – the aftermath of her fall. I think her hearing aid batteries were dead because she had trouble hearing what was said, but she was delighted to see me.

Oh, but I so wanted to go into her room and sort her things out for her, feed her and tidy her up. I don’t think anyone had combed her hair or cleaned her teeth for a week. I had taken a few things over to the home the other day in the hope that I could put her clothes away and set a few of her familiar things out, but no. Not allowed in. And the sandwich and cup of tea, so carefully prepared for her when she arrived, were just sat on the side…..the former beginning to curl and the latter stone cold.

Ever the optimist, I thought someone might pretty her room up and put her clothes away for her, but her suitcases were just lain on her bed and nothing familiar in the room. Apart from the suitcase, that is. “Is that yours?” she said to me, clearly recognising the suitcase. “No, it’s yours!” I replied. She nodded, as if she remembered.

In between times, we saw the Sutton Sleaths this afternoon as they came over for an garden visit. I was, as usual, in my element with William and Thomas. John, as usual, was chilly, so we got out the patio heater and the heated blanket. A couple of hours of bliss. But it all goes too soon, and we were waving a goodbye in what seemed like five minutes after they’d arrived. But what a boost to our souls. Wonderful.

I am not yet relaxed. But I hope to be soon. Let’s hope the COVID figures keep steady or come down. Might feel a bit more relaxed then.

  • 2,672 people tested positive for the virus today
  • 30 people died with the virus in the community in the last 24 hours
  • 15 people died in hospitals with the virus on 13 & 14 April
  • And it’s Day 18 since the lifting of Lockdown 3;
  • Day 4 of our new, limited freedoms;
  • Day 388 since Lockdown 1; 
  • Day 394 since our self-imposed Lockdown 1

Take care everyone. God bless. 

Moments

Instead of the mundane, I thought I’d share some recent beautiful moments that have sparkled in amongst the push and pull of our daily lives. Reminders of the good things in life – past, present and times to come.

Firstly, this…. my Mother’s Day gift from Andrew…. quite excited to try these! Every mouthful will be a moment to savour in the knowledge that youngest son has created them. *Does a little dance* These will definitely gratify our hunger for sweet and savoury things.

And then there’s these….. Dawn’s Mum’s liqueur glasses…. full, and likely to be frequently full, in memory of Joyce. We shall certainly enjoy using these, remembering good times gone by. These will help us put a zing into our evenings, won’t they?

And, unexpectedly, in the post today, a parcel…….. I think there’s something in my eye, folks! How wonderful that my Goddaughter, Liz, should find the time to think of me when she has her hands full with baby Arthur. These lovely coasters will remind us that we are forever loved. *Gets a hanky out to wipe away a tear or two...*

All good, don’t you think? All things to savour against the backdrop of our very busy days.

Today’s backdrop was simply supporting the Kenilworth Sleaths as they prep their house for sale; a bit of admin on Mum’s care home and the Wednesday Quiz. Busy, busy, but a successful and productive day. And enjoyable too.

  • 2,491 people tested positive for the virus today
  • 38 people died with the virus in the community in the last 24 hours
  • 18 people died in hospitals with the virus on 11 & 12 April – these figures updated today and no new ones for the 13 April
  • And it’s Day 17 since the lifting of Lockdown 3;
  • Day 3 of our new, limited freedoms;
  • Day 387 (that’s 1 year, 3 weeks and 1 day) since Lockdown 1; 
  • Day 393 (1 year and 1 month) since our self-imposed Lockdown 1

Take care everyone. God bless. Hope you also find some sparkles in your lives to help you through.

A better day

The sun was shining. Well, that was a good start. I wondered what the temperature was, and whether I’d be able to sit outside and have my breakfast. I stepped out of the patio door and thought, ‘Well, why not? It feels good to me,’ So I did. A great start to the day.

Our indoor/outdoor thermometer hadn’t been working however, and needed new batteries, so while I was out there I sorted it out. I think it might take its time to steady itself though, because the temperature reading suggested 15 degrees out in the back garden. The car told me it was 8 degrees in the front garden and still only 10 degrees when I was on my journey over to Coleshill to look at a care home for Mum. Whatever the actual temperature was, it didn’t matter. It felt lovely and warm to me.

The care home was taking every precaution in allowing anyone into the building. Take a lateral flow test, wait half an hour and, if you’re deemed clean you can come in. I took the opportunity to sit outside in their little garden while waiting for the test result to come back. It. Was. Bliss. The bench had been warmed by the sun and was pleasant to sit on. In front of me swarmed busy bees, their legs packed with pollen picked up from the mass of Camelia flowers. Perfect meditation material.

The care home was very pleasant and I thought it would suit Mum perfectly. The staff I spoke to were very friendly, and it didn’t feel as clinical as the other three I had looked at. It may be that I am doing the others an injustice as I only viewed them virtually, but this home was exactly as it looked on the virtual tour online, so I was happy. I said, ‘Yes, please, I’d like Mum to have the room’ to which the girl showing me round said she’d let the manager know and we’d go from there.

In my head, I thought I’d have to do a lot of arranging and phoning round and trundling Mum from the hospital to the care home, but it transpires not. The Care Home Service that I am using is sorting all of that and, once I’d let them know, they have arranged for Mum’s discharge and transfer to take place on Thursday. Keeping my fingers crossed that it still all goes ahead smoothly…..

Unexpectedly, I felt extremely emotional at having made the decision. I thought I was OK until I phoned the warden at the flats where Mum is now, to let her know, and I suddenly came over all wibbly-wobbly. Immediate thoughts of whether it’s the right thing to do; whether I have looked after Mum well enough; how she will feel going to a strange place, and so on. John, of course, was my ‘strength and stay’. Of course it’s the right thing to do; and yes, you have looked after your Mum well enough; and she’ll soon get used her new surroundings. I do hope so. I hope she’ll be happy there.

We had a cup of tea when I got back from my trip to Coleshill and sat in the lounge. John was playing poker and fiddling about on his laptop. I thought I might watch a bit of Bargain Hunt and the news….. crikey! It’s Groundhog Day……..I woke up an hour later….. but there is nothing wrong with me. I had a blood test and it’s all normal. What do you reckon folks? Old age? Regular afternoon naps now required?

John was still playing poker or having his afternoon nap when Harriet phoned. “Have you got any suitcases we can borrow, please?” They are moving house on Friday and need suitcases to pack all their belongings into ready for transporting across to their new house. “Yep. No worries – I’ll fish them out of the loft.”

Well, that little exercise got me going – clambering up and down two flights of stairs and navigating the various beams in the attic, ducking down to avoid bumping my head or climbing over them. The ‘fishing out’ of the suitcases necessitated four trips up and down those flights of stairs. Good for the waistline no doubt.

And, who’d have thought that suitcases could evoke such nostalgic thoughts? That’s the one we bought when we went to Florida…… oh, and those we inherited from Graham and Gail when they left for Australia…….ah…..and that one Mum and Dad bought me when I went to college…..and this one is the one we bought to transport your PJs, John, when you went to hospital….and that one was Aunty Flo and Uncle Albert’s cabin bag from the 1960s….. Oh, yes, we’ve got them all!

We took the suitcases over to Kenilworth and sat in the garden and drank a cup of tea. Another blissful interlude. Freddie was delighted to see us and we played together; and Harriet was pleased, I think, to have short break – she has such a lot to think about just now, so it was good to talk. We were delighted to see Lily who arrived home, having been to the bank to make ready for a trip into Birmingham tomorrow. And then, just as we were on the way home, we managed to snatch a word with Paul, whom we saw walking home from having had his hair cut. My cup was full.

My cup was even fuller when Michael phoned this evening. They were out on the patio, sitting on their new patio furniture, finishing their tea. William was very excited to be able to show us the new chairs and table. Wonderful.

So it’s been a much better day today, albeit a bit emotional and, as a non sequitur, here are today’s figures.

  • 2,472 people tested positive for the virus today
  • 23 people died with the virus in the community in the last 24 hours
  • 10 people died in hospitals with the virus on 11 & 12 April
  • And it’s Day 16 since the lifting of Lockdown 3 and Day 2 of our new, limited freedoms; Day 386 since Lockdown 1; Day 392 since our self-imposed Lockdown 1

Take care everyone. God bless. And thank you to everyone who has us on their prayer list – much needed, much appreciated.

Slow….Sloe….

It’s been like walking through treacle all day. Not sure why, but there you are. Might be an over-reaction to having enjoyed myself so much yesterday, do you think?

Anyway, I decided, first thing, to get in touch with the doctor again to see if he could help me sort out the problem with my eye. Well, you have to laugh, don’t you? No refusal to look into the eye situation this time, but diagnosis by photograph and he prescribed some eye drops. The very same eye drops that John has in amongst his particular medical arsenal. Let’s hope they do the trick.

It was a pottering about morning, in which I firmly announced to John that I was going to go for a walk. I had started thinking about the walk at 8.30 this morning, and by 11.30 I had finally set off. I’d spoken to social services about Mum and they had ‘made a note’, then hung on the line for someone to answer the phone at Warwick Hospital for at least twenty minutes and still no reply, before I actually walked out of the door. Embarrassingly, the warden of Mum’s flats phoned to find out what had happened to Mum while I was on another call. John answered the phone, and I cringed as I realised that I had not yet put a call through to them. Ah, well, they know now, anyway.

Finally, I left John watching a programme on TV and departed the house, stepping out into the wonderful sunshine. I nipped into Tesco to drop some batteries into the re-cycling and noticed a lady go in before me without a mask. I was quickly in and out of the shop and didn’t feel I could say anything, but I wondered if this is what’s to come with the lifting of the lockdown. Oh, Lordy, we’ll back into the realms of more lockdown in no time at all if people don’t follow the safety measures, I think.

The walk was wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed it, taking my time through Katherine’s Wood and admiring the soft clouds of blackthorn everywhere. Looks like it’s going to be a good year for sloe berries, if the blossom is anything to go by.

Once I was home, I thought I’d watch a little bit of Bargain Hunt and the news before grabbing a bite to eat. John was still watching his programme – which he had thought was the last episode, only to find it wasn’t, so he had to keep watching…… As I sat down, I didn’t think I was particularly tired, but a couple of hours later, I woke up and wondered where the heck the time had gone!

No matter, I’d have some late lunch before popping into Kenilworth to take my boots for repair. I was waiting for Andrew to call in on his way back to Cambridge, so texted him to find out when he’d arrive. Oops, ah…… oh…..sorry, he’d forgotten he was going to call in, and he was nearly all the way to Cambridge, by the time he got my message. I was disappointed. I know I’d seen him for a few hours this weekend and was thrilled to have done so, but I wanted more…. perhaps I was being greedy.

I did, in the end, manage to get through to the ward where Mum is staying. “The doctors are just having a chat about your Mum. I’ll ask the consultant to call back when they’ve finished. Is that OK?” Oh, yes, of course. But then I went up to the chemist’s to get my prescription, didn’t I? The phone call came in just as I was standing in the shop waiting. I had to nip out and stand round the corner to try and hold a conversation – not easy when cars are whizzing past. However, the upshot was that Mum is fit to be discharged.

I thought that the medics would be happy to discharge Mum today, but I am concerned about her falling again in her flat. I mentioned this to the consultant who agreed that they’d keep on doing what they were doing for the time being. I am hoping that the care home I am going to look at tomorrow might just be suitable, and we can arrange discharge into the care home rather than back to the flat. Fingers crossed, people!

The news today is full of people partying in the streets and queuing all along the pavements for the clothes shops – primarily Primark, by the looks of it – and downing pints in pub gardens, despite the cold weather. We’ve been let out of jail!!! Let’s hope we keep our sensible heads.

  • 3,568 people tested positive for the virus today
  • 13 people died with the virus in the community in the last 24 hours
  • 9 people died in hospitals with the virus on 10 & 11 April
  • And it’s Day 15 since the lifting of Lockdown 3 and Day 1 of our new, limited freedoms; Day 385 since Lockdown 1; Day 391 since our self-imposed Lockdown 1

Take care everyone. God bless. 

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.