Month: June 2021

Well, we were tiddly by about three o’clock this afternoon and lovely it was, too. We were honouring the invitation to lunch at Pete and Dawn’s alongside Carol and John and couldn’t not toast each other in celebration of getting together at last, could we?

We had walked the 400 yards to the Cross household, laden with goodies for dessert, excited to be eating together and sharing each other’s company. A cup of tea was in order when we got there, but by the time lunch was served it was onto the wine. Then the Prosecco. Thank you very much, I don’t mind if I do.

I don’t think we stopped talking all afternoon. Our topics of conversation were wide-ranging and fascinating and it felt just so good to be able to converse without having to stop with a ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t hear that. Can you say it again?’ like we do on Zoom. *Does a little dance* We were as happy as happy can be.

I think we had thought we might sit out in the garden if the weather was up to it, and we could have done but, even though it was lovely and warm, it was overcast so we chose to ensconce ourselves on the very comfortable sofas instead.

But the garden….. how wonderful it looked! The lawn was laid – Ben and Tom having done a very good job of laying the turf last week – and there was a fabulous pergola standing proud, forming a guard along the paving slabs. Looks really good and I now have pergola envy. I want one! “Can we keep up with the Joneses, John?” I asked. He grinned…. oh crikey, now look what you’ve started Mr & Mrs Cross.

We were so enjoying ourselves that we had to fairly drag ourselves away. “I hate to break the party up,” I ventured, “but I’m Zooming the college crew at eight o’clock, so we probably need to leave shortly.” I hope we didn’t outstay our welcome – I mean, we were invited for lunch and we were still there well after tea! Reluctantly, we gathered our bits and pieces and came home.

The social whirl didn’t stop when we got home of course, as I logged into Zoom to enjoy the evening with the girls. It was terrific to catch up as I’d missed out on our previous session. We missed seeing one or two of the ‘team’ though, as Linda was swanning off to her caravan in Somerset and Sue sent her apologies as she’s unwell. After the excitement of her daughter getting married at the weekend, she has succumbed to the flu and is feeling lousy. We missed seeing Lizzie, too, but we’re not sure why she didn’t make it tonight.

I know I’ve said it all before but I am so very, very grateful to have such good friends. They are a pick-me-up when you’re down; a natural support when you’re feeling even-Stevens; and as solid as a rock when you’re sharing the good times. We are very blessed.

We didn’t give the pandemic much wriggle-room in our conversation today – we focussed on what made us feel good, but just for consistency of ‘reporting’, the figures are as follows:

• 7,393 people tested positive for the virus today
• 7 people died in the community with the virus
• 153 people were admitted to hospital, an increase of 7%
• No up-to-date figures for deaths in hospitals today.

Take care everyone. God bless.

The sun is shining, the tennis is in full flow at Roland Garros so it was surely time for Pimms this afternoon. Yep, I had a drop left in the bottle and all the other requisite items – including all the foliage – so a tumbler of the lovely stuff was made up. Delicious. It certainly helps when you’re doing the ironing, I can tell you.

We had got up early this morning to be over at Heartlands by half-past eight. John had an appointment with the respiratory team to do a lung function test. “How long will you be, do you think, John?” I asked. He thought it would be a couple of hours. Right – in that case, I’ll nip over to Solihull for a spot of shopping.

The main purpose was to get a front door key cut, but I thought I might have mooch about – there were one or two things on my list, non-essential really, but useful to have if I could have a browse and see just what I was after.

Hahahahaha. The shops don’t open early any more, do they? It just shows how long it is since I last went shopping. With the the exception of Next, most shops advertised their opening times as 9.30. Half an hour to kill. I browsed the shoes in Next and thought how ugly many of them were. Then I thought I’d toddle over to Timpson’s to see if they were open and they were, so I was able to get the key cut.

No sooner had I done that little job and was savouring the idea of browsing the shops for the first time in eighteen months, than John phoned to tell me he’d finished. Blimey! Already? Yes, the procedure didn’t take as long as he’d thought. Oh, well, it was probably a good idea not to wander through the shops given current COVID infection rates.

En route home, John took a phone call from the immunologist – a telephone appointment scheduled for eleven o’clock, but he’d phoned early. I pulled over and, kerbside, we chatted through the latest in John’s care with regards to immunology. It’s all going relatively well, not so many infections now that he’s having infusions of immunoglobulin. “Ah, good” said the doctor, “I have to flag up to you, though, that there is a national shortage of immunoglobulin. We may have to reduce your dose to share it out to others. We’re reviewing everyone’s situation. I’m not saying we will take it away, but I thought I ought to let you know it’s under review.” I wonder if they have a board up in their conference rooms too, saying ‘who do we not save?’. Not that I am cultivating the cynic in me at all, you understand.

Once we were home, John thought he might have a bit of a snooze, but I am not sure that he did. He was scrolling through something or other on his laptop and then moved onto the computer. He was watching the bidding on the quad bike for one thing, and ordering items to buy for another.

I spent the rest of the morning in the kitchen, making some gluten-free, dairy-free desserts ready for our visit to Pete and Dawn’s tomorrow. Desserts are not normally my thing, but I really enjoyed my time in their preparation today. I am hoping that they will taste good. They should do. They are John’s tried and tested recipes which he has sampled over and over again in the last couple of years.

This evening it was Quiz Night. Another enjoyable evening with lots of fun and laughter, some good questions and some good answers too. It’s amazing what we can extract from our addled brains, despite our advancing years….

With regret, the numbers of people testing positive for COVID continues to increase, although the better news is that the hospitalisations are still steady and it’s expected that the vaccination programme is helping reduce the severity of symptoms for people.

7,540 people were confirmed as positive with the virus today and six people died in the community. Two people died in hospitals on 7 & 8 June.

Make the most of what we have today, everyone, to stay safe. Keep keeping your distance; sport a mask; and avoid vast crowds if you can. I am definitely not keen on another lockdown. What say you?

God bless all those who are suffering today.

Is anyone else having trouble with forget-me-nots? A flower I adore but, boy, this year they are giants! I decided to let them self-seed and grow and, because I haven’t done very much gardening this year (being a fair-weather gardener) the little blighters have taken full advantage of my neglect and the inclement, rainy weather to keep on growing!

Instead of looking all twee and pretty, they have grown to nearly 18 inches tall in some cases and have now gone to seed, with just a few hopeful flowers clinging on at the very ends of their stems. Looking awfully tatty, I’m afraid, and I’ve had to give them the chop.

And it’s not only the forget-me-nots. The ragged robin has gone bananas as well, having spread everywhere – as has the Phlox (which is about four feet tall) and the Sweet Cecily, which has bolted away and is nearly six feet tall. Heavens – not sure what I am going to do about it all.

As it happens, I spent a very happy hour or two out in the garden this evening after having whiled away the afternoon doing nothing very much at all. All the plants I bought are now bedded in, and I have even managed to pop the tomato plants into growbags. It’s a bit late, I know, but I am hopeful we’ll have a few nice, red tomatoes to eat before the autumn comes and we have to make green tomato chutney.

I finally came in at half-past nine. It was still light and I had thoroughly enjoyed myself. The only problem with it being half-past nine was that we hadn’t had any tea….. and I’m not even on a diet.

The day was bit topsy-turvy in that we were at the hospital this morning for one of John’s eye check-ups. We were there for almost three hours which was extended by the travelling time, to make it over four hours. It was all very helpful and interesting, but we were jaded by the time we came home – especially as I’d had to stand for a good part of the waiting time, as instructed by a fellow accompanier who pointed out the notice that said, ‘These seats are for patients ONLY’ and I didn’t dare sit down for fear of incurring his wrath.

In the car on the way back, I asked John if he fancied going to a pub later on for a meal. “Not right now, of course, because your eyes aren’t ready, but later, perhaps at about four o’clock?” He wasn’t sure. After all the eye drops that had been administered all he could think of was getting home for a cup of tea, so that’s what we did. “See how you feel in a couple of hours?” I suggested. Yes, maybe.

We didn’t go out in the end. John did some fiddling about on the computer to get his photos of the quad bike uploaded and then advertised it before he started investigating a change to our internet and TV programme provider. That’s another thing that gives me the collywobbles these days – change. I had a bit of a meltdown at the thought of changing the TV provider, but gave myself a proper talking to and reminded myself that change is good for us and keeps us young.

In the interests of keeping us young, I decided to go to the Co-op this afternoon to do a big shop. Now this is momentous because I haven’t physically done a big shop for over a year. My aim was to choose items that would contribute to our health and well-being and roll back the years, and I was going to pick ’em myself.

The shopping went well, and I even had a laugh. I overheard one of the shop assistants chatting to his colleague: “Would you like a Twirl, a Wispa and a Boost?” he asked. His colleague nodded eagerly. So the shop assistant ‘twirled’ around and said in a loud stage ‘whisper’, “You’re a great guy!” giving him a much-needed ‘boost’. Boom, Boom! All together now…..’groan’. It made me smile anyway.

So there we have it. Another day gone. Another day of feeling grateful for the NHS and the wonderful people who run it. We are in awe of them every time we make a visit to a hospital – each and every one of them giants in their field. I wonder how we are going to be able to keep it? Boris has plans to sell it off, doesn’t he? I shudder at the thought.

There will be some people who’ve needed the NHS today as a result of COVID, which has infected at least 6,048 people today, killed 13 in the community with it and 5 in hospitals on 6 & 7 June – and Manchester is on high alert right now.

Look after yourselves everyone – take that extra care so that COVID doesn’t walk into your homes and take you to a hospital near you. God bless.

They come round so quickly don’t they? Mondays? I mean, it was only a week ago that we had one before!! Mind you, I didn’t mind today, because we had no plans other than a bit of pottering about round the house and garden. And, I was awake early, so got up at a reasonable time and found the day rolled by quite pleasantly.

John, on the other hand, has got on with several jobs, but his eyes are bothering him so he’s had a miserable day really. However, (hopefully) we are due to attend the eye clinic tomorrow so we’ll see what’s what. I say ‘hopefully’ because, you know, these things have a habit of not happening when we get there….. A letter arrived with an appointment for last week, however it was changed to this week. But there’s been no follow-up letter, so fingers crossed it’s not cancelled or we’ll be in trouble.

We paced ourselves though, today. John’s main plan for the day was to clean the quad bike and sort it ready to advertise for sale. He did that pretty well, and it’s all raring to go (well, once it’s been serviced and tidied up a bit) and he took photos of it ready to upload to the computer.

Only the computer say ‘no’. The photos wouldn’t upload and he wasn’t sure where he was saving them, so he went for the Dropbox option, which entailed him setting up an account. All in all, it was a great big faff and nothing went quite right. I think, in the end, he sorted it out, but by the time he’d done that, he’d had enough and didn’t get to the bit about advertising…….maybe tomorrow. Looks pretty, though, don’t you think?

Me, on the other hand, I was grubbing about under the sink in the kitchen. I had two jobs today – one was to clear the shelves under the sink because I was convinced there was a dead mouse in there, as well as get it ready for when the new work surfaces arrive in two weeks time. Nothing like being prepared early, is there? Anyway, there was no mouse. But I cleaned it all and it looks OK. I put all the contents of the cupboard into zillions of boxes which are now under the stairs. We’ll never find anything ever again….

The second job was to spray the roses. I promised Livia, who helped with the pruning, that I’d spray them last week but time ran away and then it rained. All done now, so I am hoping that the little bugs munching on them will breathe their last, the black spot will, in the words of Bridget Jones, ‘bu**er off!, the mildew will wither and die and the bushes will all be as happy as Larry in a week or two.

Having completed the two scheduled jobs, I moved onto the unscheduled ones which involved a bit of vacuuming, wet-wiping, polishing and box-emptying – all in a good cause, as I prepare a few things of Mum’s to advertise for sale.

Selling things always gives me the collywobbles though. Mad, isn’t t? It’s the fear of rejection, you know. I have this item; I offer it to a potential customer for a price; no-one wants it – rejection looms big and I never want to offer anything for sale ever again. Something like that anyway. However, I am determined to do it. The items are things that Mum no longer wants or needs; Graham has said he doesn’t want any of Mum’s things; and we don’t want these bits I’ve identified for sale either, so let’s see if someone else does.

This afternoon, unexpectedly, it was yoga. With a hospital appointment for tomorrow morning, Jaime suggested I attend this afternoon/evening’s class instead. I am glad I went. I always feel better for having practiced – as Jaime says, ‘Yoga days are good days!’.

When I got home, I prepped some food for a late supper. “Do you anything to eat, John?” I asked. No, was the reply. He’d started on the wine and was planning on a ‘liquid lunch’, only not lunch, if you know what I mean!

With regards to the current health of the nation, I note that there were 5,683 positive cases of the virus reported today, one death in the community and, in theory, no deaths in hospitals. However, the spreadsheet reporting hospital deaths looks proper poorly itself, with no reported deaths for any day at all since the beginning of the year. Methinks that may be a mistake.

Take care everyone. God bless.

So Freddie stayed over. As good as gold and oodles of fun, despite the early start – although I didn’t think 5.54 a.m. was too bad…..

We spent the morning playing, reading, chasing, tickling, cake-baking and colouring. Filled our time up to the hilt and it was good. Freddie was on top form and as amenable as you like – even setting off home without any fuss at all. Loved it. At five years old Freddie is a lovely boy and full of lively conversation and bringing a ray of sunshine into our lives.

After Freddie had gone home, we gathered together a few things to take over to the Sutton-Sleaths. It was their wedding anniversary on Friday, so I had a gift for them and I was keen to take it over. We took the new car for a little run out and I was glad we had a big boot as it was filled to the gunnels with gardening and cleaning equipment. I know it’s a bit beyond spring, but the Sleaths in Sutton are having a spring clean and spruce up.

We had been roped in to plant up a few shrubs and summer bedding to help them out. With two little ones in tow, it’s extremely time-consuming to get any jobs done at the best of times, but especially gardening, when you think you may have to fish one or other of them out of the rather large pond.

William was my helper and he stuck by my side all afternoon as we dug over the flowerbeds and decanted the plants into them. I did spend a little bit of time looking after Thomas too, which was fun, as he is into everything.

As the afternoon went on, Michael asked if we’d like to stay for dinner, to which we said ‘yes’ of course. And John earned his dinner by mending the fencing between the top and bottom end of the garden. It was a lovely afternon.

What else is there to say? We have had fun all day from start to finish. May there be many more days filled with such love and laughter.

On the COVID front there have been 5,341 people diagnosed with a case of the virus today and 4 people have died with it. There are no weekend figures for hospitals.

And there we have it – short and sweet, oh, so sweet. Take care everyone. God bless.

The boy done good today. Not only did the ol’ man manage to drag the quad bike up the path ready for its jet wash, but he oversaw the laying of the turves round at Pete and Dawn’s and played Lego with Freddie for a good hour just before tea-time.

Paul and Harriet had a party to go to. While on a phone call to Paul yesterday, Freddie piped up to interrupt the conversation and said, “Grandma? Can I come and sleepover at your house?” Of course the answer was yes. The babysitting plan for the Sutton Sleaths had been shelved, so we weren’t doing anything – much to the relief of the Kenilworth Sleaths, who had wondered what the heck they were going to do with Freddie if we couldn’t babysit.

The house and garden wasn’t particularly Freddie-friendly, with piles of this and that everywhere, so this morning I tidied the garden up, removing any dangerous tools and items that could be tripped over, and moved larger items to a better home so that Freddie would have space to run about if he wanted.

We had a bite to eat once I’d finished my garden chores and then we wandered up the road to Pete and Dawn’s. John was assigned the job of overseer to Peter and the lads who were laying the lawn. He was well-qualified for the job. It entailed sitting in a chair and waving his stick about, pointing out where they’d gone wrong and what to do about it.

I, on the other hand, scuttled indoors because there was a baby about. While Ben was laying the lawn, Liz was in the lounge with baby Arthur. And, in fact, John reckoned that was the only reason he’d come to visit too.

Arthur was a delight. Oh, and to help Lizzie out occasionally, I offered to hold him while she got the pram in, or made a cup of tea, or went to take photos of how the lawn-laying was going, or…well, for any flimsy reason really. He was lovely and snuggly and had the most wicked little grin. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Grandma Dawn didn’t get a look in today while I was there….. good thing we didn’t stay long, otherwise she might have had to fight me for a hold of her grandson, he was so gorgeous.

We left the Cross family residence about three-thirty to get back in time for Fred-Fred arriving, which he duly did about half an hour later. He fairly burst through the door and flung himself into my arms and gave me a massive hug. Don’t mind if I do.

And there we were. Playing and giggling and imagining and reading and eating and drinking and chatting and hugging…..and…. well, you name it we seemed to do it – except go out in the garden after all. Maybe tomorrow.

I am not sure what I was doing, but Freddie said he’d like to go upstairs to play so John followed him up and there they sat, for over an hour, in total contentment together playing with the Lego. I followed on too, but my contribution was limited to lying on the bed, closing my eyes and doing some meditating, only to be roused occasionally to find a specific piece of Lego that Freddie was after, while John and he played. It was delightful.

After tea, it was bath-time for Freddie and a bed-time story, which he relished and enjoyed joining in with. He wasn’t totally droopy-eyed and was awake enough to stroke the Rio, the cat, when he came in meowing for his supper. Freddie was thrilled to have petted the cat – this is a first. The cats normally run away from the children, for fear of being mauled, but Freddie has learned the gentle touch now.

The day was rounded off by a short visit from Paul and Harriet on their way home from the party. We weren’t expecting them but what a delightful surprise. They stayed for a cuppa and a little natter before they went home. Made my day.

All in all, today has been a blast. From beginning to end, it’s been a pleasure. I think even John has enjoyed himself today, too, although he is still hauling Puffing Billy around with him. To the extent now that the family are beginning to take the mickey and call him Darth Vader…..

On the COVID front, 5,765 people tested positive for the virus today and 13 died in the community. No hospital figures today.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Despite promises of good weather today, I felt doubtful this morning as the grey skies floated overhead. I mean, it was mild enough, but really? It’s flaming June now, so we should be having a scorcher. The overcast sky was enough to send me back to bed this morning – instead of getting up with the alarm at half past seven, it was half past nine before I got out of bed. And that was only because John was up and had brought me a cup of tea….

John’s morning was once again medical. A trip down to the GP surgery for blood tests and an injection for his prostate cancer. Eeeh, it’s an exciting life if you don’t weaken. While he was out, I floated about the house titivating this and that. A response to a letter here, a phone call there, a pile of washing here, a sift through of papers there. In, out, shake it all about…. you do the Hokey Cokey and turnaround… that’s what it’s all about. Tra-la.

My firm intention all morning was to get out in the garden and get those plants that I’d bought the other day into the ground somewhere, at least. But it didn’t happen this morning – there were too many other things to deal with. One of which was very exciting – and it wasn’t even my job!

Once John was back from the doctor’s he settled himself in the SnuGym, which is now the Medical Room, to inhale drugs from his nebuliser. I was tidying the kitchen and opening the post. Ah-ha! The V5 for the new car i.e. the log book (for those of us who remember it fondly as such) had arrived in this morning’s post. I nipped through to let the ol’ man know.

The receipt of the logbook is important because, a good few years ago now, John bought a number plate that ostensibly spells out his name. Unfortunately, we have never had a new enough car on which to put it, so it’s been languishing in John’s wardrobe ever since. But with the arrival of this little baby, John was able to change the number plate and adorn the car with his own, cherished one. A frisson of excitement ran through our home at the thought of it.

This afternoon, we did get out in the garden. The plants made it from their temporary homes in plastic, garden centre plant pots to ceramic pots of varying sizes, or into the rockery or the flowerbed at the bottom of the garden. Steve had been to cut the lawn this morning so things are beginning to look marginally better.

John, meanwhile, laboured with the quad bike that he dragged from the man shed. His aim is to give it a bit of a clean-up and then sell it as a refurb project. However, he’d stored it without wheels…… it was a bit of a b****r getting it out of the shed, but it’s looking a bit happier now that it’s got three wheels on. It’s just begging for its fourth one now. Maybe tomorrow.

Meanwhile, a phone call came in. It was Peter. Great excitement there. Rolls of turf have been delivered! The sons-in-law are going to lay the lawn tomorrow!! And can we borrow a scaffolding plank, please, to help in the operation? Well, of course. No worries.

I half heard the conversation with Pete, and John filled me in on the rest. Although it has to be said, I totally misunderstood what John told me and I had visions of all sorts of stuff needing to be carted round to the Cross household. Anyway, the plan was to walk the plank round. John carefully taped it to a sack truck and made a little handle for it so we could pull it. Ingenious. The only trouble was, by the time John had dragged the thing down the side of the house and made the contraption, he was knackered.

We set off, each holding the handle either side of the plank. Within a few yards, John realised he was weighed down by having brought Puffing Billy with him, so he needed to stop for a rest at the nearest lamppost. He managed to pant out that this is how he’d been when he’d been to the shops and had had to stop every few yards. Oh, dear. My poor, darling husband. “Not to worry,” I said, gathering up the plank and hotching it onto my left hip, “I’ll walk on with it for a bit, and then you can catch up when you’re ready.”

The plank nestled nicely on my hip and the wheels trundled dutifully behind. I was soon at Pete and Dawn’s. I swept the plank up onto their drive and half-way to the garage, telling Pete that here it was and I was just going back to see if John was OK. He wasn’t far behind, and it felt good to be able to walk together for those last few yards, despite Puffing Billy in tow.

Naturally, John gravitated to the garden to discuss what was what there and look at levels and gradients and measurements and things like that. I, of course, gravitated to Dawn and we went inside. “Glass of wine?” she offered, “although I’ll have to get someone to pour it out.” Well, what a daft question – the answer, of course, is going to be ‘yes, please’ and ‘don’t worry, I’ll pour it out’…..

We had a lovely natter and stayed for a couple of hours before we thought we’d outstayed our welcome and took ourselves home. Such an unexpected pleasure to round off our day. Lucky us.

And, what do you know? The COVID figures are continuing to rise, aren’t they? 6,238 people tested positive for the virus today. 11 people died with the virus in the community. 5 people died in hospitals with the virus on 2 & 3 June.

It’s the weekend, folks, and the sun is going to be shining, I hear. I do hope you all have a great weekend. Take care and look after yourselves. God bless.

This evening, as I sit here at my desk, the heavens are sky-blue pink and a full rainbow arcs its way in front of the blushed clouds. It is very lovely. No photo can do it justice, despite my trying, and so regrettably, you cannot share in the visual image, only the imagined one.

When I see such phenomena, I am reminded that all is not lost. The worries and the fretting over disagreements with, and among, family members are soothed by nature at its best, wooing me to think that there may be a repair on the way. I pray for it anyway.

I may not have a photo of the sky, but I do have photos of John’s hedge – before and after. Although, to be fair, the photos aren’t great but I think you’ll get the gist.

Unfortunately, the hedge that arrived wasn’t as tall as John had ordered. There’s a back story folks….

John chose six plants in the 1.75-2m tall category. There was a delay in their arrival and, when John chased it up, the girl told him that the ones that had come in were short, so they were waiting for the right ones to arrive. “OK to wait?” she asked. “Yes, OK, we’ll wait,” John replied. We waited. Then we had a delivery date with the message that the shrubs were a leetle bit shorter than we wanted but they’d knock a fiver off per plant if that was OK?

Okay, we thought, we’ll at least be able to get them in the holes that John was yet to dig and fill the gap along the neighbours wall. When the blighters arrived, they were 1.4m. Cough, splutter, choke…. a leetle bit short? And a fiver per shrub discount? I don’t think so, said John.

He’s planted them anyway but, as you can see, they don’t quite live up to the height of the existing privet hedge, do they? John has written a stiff letter of complaint. The category of height below the one we ordered was 1.4m – 1.75, at an advertised price of £25 less, each. So we’re certainly well out of pocket and not got the goods we wanted.

I know we are deemed to have accepted them now, but I do think the company should refund the difference. Personally, I think the sales assistant was being disingenuous and, in all likelihood no new delivery arrived so they thought they’d just send the original shipment. But then, I am such a cynic. Let’s wait and see.

Anyway, today has been a hospital day. We were up early and driving over to Heartlands for John’s immunoglobulin treatment this morning. “Shall we take the new car?” I wondered. “No,” said John, “that back road to Heartlands is a bit narrow. Don’t want to scuff the car the minute we’ve got it.” True, we don’t. So we took the ‘old reliable’ Eos instead.

But I did take the new car out for a run this afternoon. Paid a visit to Mum and the roads are not narrow on the route to her place so I was OK.

Mum was fast asleep when I arrived, so I decided to let her snooze on a bit while I put away the bits and pieces I’d taken and arranged the flowers I’d brought. Mum open her eyes temporarily and leered at the flowers. “They’re pretty,” she said, nodding at me, then she promptly fell asleep again.

I was just putting her box of chocolates on the table when she opened her eyes again. “Mmmm, chocolates,” she said with a grin, before falling to sleep again. In the end, I woke her up but she was pretty dozy all afternoon. We had been talking for a good twenty minutes, discussing the clothing that I’d brought, the chocolates and magazines, and admiring the flowers before she looked at me with her head on one side and said, “Who are you again?”

I laughed. Couldn’t do anything else really. “I’m your daughter!” I said. Ah…. but the penny hadn’t quite dropped. I lowered my mask. “It’s me! Anne!” It slowly dawned on her who I was. “Oh, yes. Well, I was wondering….I wasn’t sure…. but yes….. oh…I see, yes, it’s Anne. How lovely to see you, dear.”

We had a nice chat for a couple of hours despite the fact that Mum wasn’t quite with it. I talked to her about the family but I could tell she couldn’t quite bring people to mind. In the end, I showed her the photos she has on her windowsill of us all. She shook her head. No, she wasn’t sure who anyone was. Not even herself for a minute or two.

Never mind, it really didn’t matter. We spent our time laughing about the amount of hankies she has, and had she got any in her pockets? She checked and re-checked and checked again to verify that there was at least one per pocket. Then we had a rendition of the song ‘I was born under a wanderin’ star’ to which I joined in, which she loved. We flicked through photos on my phone and she exclaimed at the children’s antics and was pleased they were all having fun. We reminisced, using an ‘old memories’ book about days gone by – “Look, Lux soap! We used to use that!” – and laughed at ourselves misunderstanding each other along the way. For example, “Do you need any more pillows, Mum?” She considered the question for a minute or two, then said, “No. No, I think I’m alright for clothes, thank you.” You have to laugh.

The incidence of the COVID virus is increasing, as we expected it would. Today there have been 5,274 people confirmed as positive for the virus and 18 deaths in the community. Just two deaths in hospitals, however.

Stay safe everyone. God bless.

It was another lovely day today, weather-wise, wasn’t it? We took advantage of it and spent most of the day (except when we were sleeping) out in the garden.

I was very blessed, because my friend, Livia, who knows about roses, said she’d come round and help me prune all the rose bushes I have front and back. Well, when I say, help, I really mean that she did all the work while I watched on. The reality is that, despite Livia having carefully shown me what to do last year, I had no confidence in my cutting capability. Would I cut the wrong branch and kill the whole thing off? She reassured me that no, roses love to be cut back, so not to worry about it.

So we had a lovely morning pottering about among the rose bushes and stopping for a cup of coffee and a chat half-way through. The exercise revealed disease among the plants though, and aphid infestation too, so on strict instructions, I planned to nip to the garden centre this afternoon to buy appropriate potions.

Meanwhile, John was out in the back garden as well, still battling his hedging. A repeat performance of dig a bit, stop a bit, dig a bit, stop a bit was the order of the day. Not only was it tiring work but it was also hot.

After Livia left, her work complete, John and I stopped our pottering about outside and came in to watch a spot of cricket and have a bite to eat. My thoughts were turning to the trip to the garden centre, but I thought I’d have a cuppa first. Then I thought I’d watch a bit more cricket. Then I thought I’d watch a bit of Roland Garros…..then I was fast asleep…. So, too, was John when I woke up a couple of hours later.

Now, I do have an excuse for falling asleep this afternoon. I hadn’t slept well last night as my shoulder was giving me jip. In the end, I had trundled downstairs in the middle of the night to get an ice pack to hold on the injury all night. I must have also been catching flies too, as my mouth felt like sandpaper when I woke up.

Interestingly, John’s excuse for falling asleep was also because he’d had a poor night’s sleep. Bless him, he never has a seamless sleep at night and is very often tired during the day necessitating an afternoon nap.

I did, however, make it to the garden centre in the new car before they closed. *Does a little dance* I armed myself with an appropriate concoction to spray onto the plants and…….ooooh, look! There are some alpines that will go in the rockery……. another impulse buy. Just got to plant the ruddy things now!

We were saved from having to do more work as the evening moved in because it started to rain. Spray the plants? Maybe tomorrow. But, let’s blow the trumpets! John has got all of the hedging in now. How cool is that? He’s done a grand job but not only that, he’s enjoyed it, too.

This evening, it was Quiz Night and another good evening had by all. We missed Malcolm’s company because he’s down helping his son, Martin, refurbish a new house. And, although Caroline joined in, we couldn’t actually see her on Zoom. Just her voice floating into the conversation, as she offered gems of knowledge to answer the questions.

On the COVID front, 4,330 people tested positive for the virus today and 12 people died in the community with it. Six people died in hospitals with the virus on 31 May and 1 June.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Well, we had a cracking day today! One wonderful thing after another.

First of all, we woke up to sunshine. How brilliant that felt. To open the curtains and see a blue sky, with a bright yellow orb in it, was uplifting to say the least. I donned suitably summery clothing and felt proper ready for the day ahead.

Only one thing marred the day and that was the dodgy shoulder that I’d jiggered yesterday. I thought I’d done a bit of a mischief and I clearly have. Blooming thing! Mind you, the hip injury didn’t amount to anything so I am grateful for small mercies.

John was up early this morning too. This was because he had a purpose. And the purpose was to toddle along to the garage and take delivery of our nice, shiny, new car. It’s not brand new – I mean who can afford that these days? – but it’s new to us and it’s lovely. We did all the paperwork in record time and then John took control and brought her home. We are very excited and John immediately said, “Where shall we go then?” Not sure where we shall go but a little drive out tomorrow is on the cards.

Once we arrived home we started the set-up for Carol and John arriving for a visit, about which we were equally excited. The set-up was only getting the chairs and barbecue out and baking some part-baked bread rolls, but as we both now feel ancient we thought we’d better allow plenty of time.

Carol and John’s ETA was about 12 o’clock, at which time the doorbell rang. Oh, whoopee! They’re here! I raced to the door to find that it was Catherine instead. She was on her way back up to Manchester after her few days at Paul and Harriet’s and thought she’d call in to say ‘hi and bye’. Well, we were delighted to see her. She looks wonderful and glowing with vitality. We had a great chat for about twenty minutes before she had to say goodbye as her friend, Jade, was cooking in the car. But what a delightful surprise. Not only sunshine and a new car but a lovely, unexpected visitor too.

Carol and John arrived around one o’clock. “Grrr….” they said, “the blooming motorway! Did you get our text message to say we’d be late?” Well, we hadn’t looked at our phones because we’d been chatting to Catherine, but it transpired that they’d got stuck in traffic caused by a broken down lorry. But, phew, they’d made it and we were thrilled to see them.

I can’t really describe the feeling of euphoria I had, seeing Carol and John in the flesh after such a long time. Oh, such dear, dear friends. Our words tumbled over each other as we had so much to say to each other. But first things first, of course – admire the car, please. Which they duly did and made all the right noises. And then, we settled in.

Oh, yes, that was it, then. We talked and talked and talked. We laughed and giggled and put the world to rights. Eeeeh, fantastic. And not only that, but they stayed until nearly nine o’clock. Even then we weren’t keen for them to go, but they’d got another motorway journey so we didn’t prevent their departure.

We did, however, draw their attention to the fact that an overnight stay is now allowed and what a pity they couldn’t stay so we could have chatted more tomorrow. Never mind, they are coming back again in ten days’ time for another get-together – this time with Pete and Dawn, too – so more chatting will be on the agenda. And it’ll be our turn to go to them next, so perhaps we’ll stay there if it’s still allowed….and we’re invited, of course.

Suffice to say, our souls have been refilled today. More please. I am not yet full.

The COVID figures are still steady. I am not sure what it means, but those who have tested positive for the virus today number 3,165 and no deaths have been reported in the community and just one death reported at the University Hospital, Birmingham. This feels like good news. I hope it really is.

Take care everyone. God bless.