In retirement

In retirement we thought we might do all sorts of things. One of those things was to laze in bed, just because we could. So we did. And it were luvverly. We spent the entire morning scrolling through social media, playing e-games and generally lazing about in bed. No demands, no distractions, no nothin’.

When we finally winkled ourselves out of bed and downstairs it was brunch-time and, in line with our attempt at a ‘diet’, we thought we’d have protein instead of carbs for our meal. Whipped up a nice little mushroom omelette, which was very yummy.

John then heaved himself into work-mode. The breakfast bar was calling. Having fruitlessly searched for a bit of wood, 2mm square, to use as a batten, John opted to nip to Les Sheppard’s to buy some timber to finish off the job. I opted for a walk instead, and took myself off to Mum’s old flats to deliver some strip-lighting that’s no use to us, but will be to them.

When I got back, John was already on his knees drilling and hammering and pushing and pulling pieces of wood to make them fit. I helped a little bit by pushing pieces into place while he drove a nail in, or secured a screw.

My usefulness over, I walked up to Pete and Dawn’s to deliver the gift that is so very belated, to Jack. I was delighted to be invited in for a cup of tea and a chat while we waited for Jack to finish his bit of gardening. Jack was happy with his present and we all agreed that my habit of forgetting birthdays has the advantage of prolonging the celebrations – which is a bonus, I think.

Home again, and I did some admin work, sorting out Mum’s accounts and laughing at/cursing Scottish Power, who have refunded Mum some money on her account, but have made the cheque payable to ‘Michael Blanning’ – the name of the flats……Grr….. there’s another job for the morning. Honestly, it’s never-ending.

I came downstairs to find that John was on the very last task on the breakfast bar. I am delighted to say he’s done a good job. And, I know he won’t think so, but he really wasn’t as out of breath as he was last week. *Does a little dance*.

This evening, I was due to go to my prayer/bible study group but, having started the day very late, the day ran late and we didn’t sort out our evening meal until gone seven o’clock, so I had to send my apologies. Instead, we watched TV and finished the programme called ‘The Pact’ which was gripping and disturbing. No spoilers, but how the characters could live with themselves is beyond me.

2,493 people tested positive for the virus today and 15 people died in the community with it. 5 people died on 23 & 24 May with the virus in hospitals, too. There are signs of the numbers increasing slightly and scientists are still sharing their concerns about our behaviours in the light of the infectiousness of the new variant.

There has been a bit of a kerfuffle over the government failing to announce its new advice for areas where the new variant is showing signs of increasing. It does start to make you paranoid though, doesn’t it? Why would they not announce precautionary measures to those areas? Heaven only knows. Herd immunity conspiracy theories abound.

Anyway, we are keeping our fingers crossed that the new variant doesn’t leap across to other towns and cities and stays contained as best as it possibly can be, because we have a trip planned on Thursday. Woo-hoo!! How about that? Will tell you more about it, all being well, when we’ve been and are back,

In the meantime, take care everyone. God bless.