Month: July 2021

We snoozed on this morning, despite the heat, and got up about ten o’clock. John was due at Heartlands for an 11.15 appointment, before he had to go for his immunoglobulin infusion this afternoon. Normally, I will drive him across to the hospital for that, and then come home until he is ready to be collected but, although my ankle has improved, I wasn’t sure about driving. So John took himself today.

He came home with a sense of relief that medical stuff was done for the week. I felt relief that he was relieved. However, I think he soon felt a bit low again this evening – probably because he is so tired. It’s such hard work having to undergo medication all the time.

I swanned about the house doing a little bit of tidying up, then sitting down for a while. I spent all day like that. Up and down like a yo-yo.

Then this evening, it was quiz night. I enjoyed the quiz – it’s so lovely to see everyone – but John was tired and felt unable to join in fully this evening, which was a shame.

So that’s all we have done today – nothing else to regale you with.

Still high numbers of COVID infections: 44,104; 79 in Balsall Common over the last seven days; and deaths are increasing, too: 73 in the community today, and 45 on 19 & 20 July in hospitals. Oh my, this isn’t good, is it?

God bless, everyone. Look after yourselves as best you can.

It’s been another hot one today, hasn’t it? John has taken advantage of the weather and been doing some outdoor clearing, while I stayed in bed all morning.

I didn’t intend to stay in bed, but after being awake about 7 o’clock I thought I’d just have another few minutes nap. Only to find that I slept on… and on… and on – until nearly one o’clock this afternoon. Well, that was unexpected!

Intruding on my dreams, I heard some circular sawing outside. I thought it was either the building works over the road or those round the corner. But no, it was John, cutting up the long metal table we used to put all our barbecue stuff on outside the backdoor. I think he enjoyed doing that.

I finally did the same as I’d done yesterday… slothed down the stairs and plumped onto the settee, foot up. And there I stayed for the rest of the day.

John joined me and we watched TV for a while. I looked longingly at the outside but John said it was incredibly hot, and so I didn’t bother to move.

And so there we are, still nothing to see here.

46,558 people tested positive for the virus today. 76 people are suffering with it in Balsall Common. 96 people died in the community. 31 people died in hospitals on 18 & 19 July.

That’s all folks. Look after yourselves well. God bless.

With apologies for a very short blog this evening – my ankle is having fun swelling up when I put my feet down, so I don’t want to sit for an hour at the computer this evening and end up with a club foot.

We have done little today really – especially me, who stayed on the bed all morning, foot up, then trundled downstairs onto the sofa, foot up, all afternoon – and most of the evening. I took advantage of being Lady Muck and asked John to fetch a Magnum from the freezer this afternoon. Yum! We sat, the pair of us, absolutely enjoying them in the heat of the day cos it ain’t ‘alf ‘ot, isn’t it?

John has been swanning about, though, as well – for, despite his current dodgy rib injury, he was galvanised to do a bit of clearing of one or two bits of rubbish into the recently-delivered skip this afternoon. That’s exciting. We’re looking forward to having a bit of a clear out!!

I had a lovely chat to my fellow Bibliophiles after tea and sat for an hour at the computer – which is how I know that sitting with my feet down isn’t a good move! But it’s so lovely to talk about the books you read with fellow enthusiasts.

After I’d enjoyed the chat, I came downstairs and decided that an ice pack would be in order, so poor John had to puff his way up the stairs to collect the ice pack that I’d been been using yesterday and left up there. Oooh, I could get used to this life! Being waited on hand and foot…..I tell myself the exercise is good for him….

We had a great chat to Michael and Danielle this evening, too. The deadline for submitting his final, final dissertation, was today. So it’s done. Phew!

On the COVID front today, there are 60 cases of it in the village now; nearly 40k people tested positive across the country, and there were 19 deaths in the community and 9 in hospitals on 17 & 18 July. I am not sure that the vaccination programme is continuing apace – there are rumours of shortages. However, nearly 80% of the adult population has had it’s first jab now, and nearly 69% have had both jabs.

Take care everyone. God bless.

What a scorcher! Clear skies and bright sunshine all day sending the temperature up to 30 degrees at least. Fortunately, we had nothing much to do today but sit about, so it was all good.

We spent the morning in the garden – I decided against a physical visit to church on account of my ankle being a bit iffy still, and then found I was out of time with the live YouTube version of the service – I’ll have a look at that tomorrow.

In the end, I watered the plants ( I know it’s the wrong time of day but still) and then sat reading my book under the gazebo. It was a sprint to get the book finished ready for our book club meeting tomorrow night. John joined me after he’d had his breakfast and promptly fell asleep in the heat. I finally prodded him awake just before one o’clock to remind him that we were out for the afternoon at Linda and Brendan’s for a barbecue.

What a lovely afternoon we had – beautiful food and drink and cracking company. It was so nice to see people in the flesh. We nattered and ate and drank and nattered some more. We all avoided close contact and ruled out hugs just in case. Each of us has someone we need to keep safe and none of us wanted to risk any possible infection.

I am not sure whether we outstayed our welcome or not, but it was nearly seven o’clock by the time we got home. We were enjoying it all so much that none of us wanted to drag ourselves away. Reluctantly, however, we did eventually peel our bodies from the chairs and said our goodbyes just as Linda was herding her geese back to the pond – as you do.

This evening has been quiet and in front of the TV – and me finishing my book. John did try to talk to me but I said, firmly, “I am just finishing my book, dear,” so that he knew there’d be no conversation until my head was out of it.

So, anyway, tomorrow is FreeDumb Day, I understand. I hope those who don’t mind getting the virus make their contribution to the herd immunity idea, as that is definitely where we are headed. If I understand correctly, the virus loves lots of people contracting it because it can mutate more easily, but I am happy to stand corrected.

Interestingly, all of us this afternoon said that we were all going to be more cautious, rather than less, and we’d all still be mask-wearing and boycotting shops where there are no mask-wearers.

Still high numbers of people testing positive for the virus, but I heard today that this is because we are testing more people so you’re bound to find more infections. Hahahaha. Love the logic.

48,161 people with a positive result today; 48 people with the virus in Balsall Common; and 25 people dead in the wider community.

And the Health Secretary and the PM did a U-turn on not self-isolating, and are now doing so. Except that the PM travelled from Number 10 to Chequers to self-isolate. Is that allowed?

Ho-hum. I am feeling very ‘off’ with the government just now – well, have been for weeks, nay months, if I’m honest – can you tell? Surely not.

Look after yourselves everyone. Don’t put yourselves in harm’s way if you can help it. God bless.

We have had a really lovely couple of days away. We enjoyed the drive ‘oop North’; the house we stayed in; the weather; the seaside, the exhibition we went to see and a trip down Memory Lane.

Our destination was Withernsea and the Lighthouse Museum. It’s a town I recall from my childhood, even if I didn’t actually recognise it once we got there.

We spent Wednesday morning travelling, the afternoon having a wander in the town, before we making our way to the Lighthouse and the exhibition.

The journey was smooth up to Yorkshire, and there were no hold-ups, so we made good time. My plan was to have a picnic on the front but, true to form, my food delight was John’s food horror, so we compromised and went to a café instead. It was well set-up with booths outside, so we sat cosy and ate an illicit burger and chips (John) and a jacket potato with cheesy beans (me). Delicious and thoroughly enjoyable.

After we’d eaten, we took a walk along the front and made our way to the Lighthouse. It was a nice walk, and we inspected a fair few garden walls, lamp-posts and shop doorways for their suitability as leaning posts along the way.

On arrival, we went straight through to the exhibition, which was brilliant. What an inspiration. Dean Wilson’s ‘Pebble of the Day’ transformed into a stunning quilt by Karen Turner, and delicate pieces of pottery, ‘you’re not a pebble, but I like you’ transformed into beautiful works of art. Loved it.

I reserved one of the embroidered pieces of the pottery for delivery once the exhibition ends, too. How exciting is that??? I can’t wait to get my hot, sticky mitts on it and see it framed on my wall.

After we’d savoured the exhibition enough we found a seat in the garden and had a cup of coffee and cake. We would have had a cream tea, too, but they were all out of those, having served a large party of little old ladies with their last ones before we got there. How disappointing – a trip away and no cream tea.

Our next stop was our AirBnB house – easily found and easily accessed. John took the opportunity for a lie-down after his exertions round town, while I went for a walk along the Prom. I took the opportunity while the sun was shining so beautifully to wander onto the beach and have myself a paddle as well – what a surprise. Always a sea-side pleasure.

John was still asleep when I got back, so I sat in the garden with a glass of white wine. After a while, I thought I’d better check on the ol’ man and he was just up, laughing at himself because he hadn’t been sure what time of day it was when he woke up. Was it tomorrow already, he wondered?

It wasn’t, of course, so we sat and watched a bit of TV in the evening and then settled for an early night.

On Friday morning, John was up early making us both a cup of tea, before we both snuck back into bed for another snooze.

It wasn’t long though, before I felt the call of the sea. John was still inspecting the back of his eyelids, so I took a walk along the South Promenade into town, then the North Promenade, before doubling back through the centre of town and on to Tesco to buy breakfast. It was wonderful. The sun was shining, it was warm and there was lots to see and enjoy.

Back at the house, John was up and had already breakfasted, but didn’t say ‘no’ to a cheeky croissant. I sat out in the garden, aiming to ‘butterfly watch’. I only saw three white ones in the allotted 15 minutes – and they might have all been the same one at different times. No idea. Logged them anyway.

Soon it was time to leave but before we left ‘God’s own County’, we decided to go into Hull to check out the house we Chapmans had lived in until I was six. Just for a little trip down memory lane.

Naturally, the house had changed, with new windows and a new front door. The front garden was now a drive for parking the owner’s car. But other than that…..I can’t say I really remembered the house as it used to be.

We took a walk along a path at the end of the road that I thought Graham and I had walked along as children to a sawmill. But he doesn’t remember that so maybe I’m mistaken. However, the path was still there, but the fields weren’t. It was a housing estate.

Finally, we drove to North Ferriby where I was born. Well, that was a surprise. I don’t know what I expected, but certainly not posh – which it very much was. The Nursing Home was still there, and all around were some very nice houses indeed.

So here we are today. A little potter around the house doing jobs this morning, then a hospital visit this afternoon. Yes, on a Saturday! A CT scan at the QE this time.

We thought maybe the Sutton Sleaths might visit for a barbecue this afternoon, but in the end, we all trundled over to Kenilworth. Christiana is up from London (well, Surbiton, anyway) and staying overnight so it was a brilliant opportunity to see her.

We had a great time there – the children were having a whale of a time playing together and the adults were having fun, too. The best time was had by the dogs, though, who hoovered up anything that had been dropped food-wise. And, of course, the children unwittingly obliged. Freddie lost two sausages from his hotdog that way, bless him.

There was a slight mar on proceedings from my point of view though, as I had a slight accident. Pulling the heavy gate closed, I caught the back of my ankle under it and managed to create a massive bruise. Had to sit with my foot up, ice-packed, for most of the evening and couldn’t quite fancy anything to eat and drink after that. John had to drive home…. ah, well. That’ll keep me pinned down for a while!

More of the same on the COVID front, with many people wondering if the government is going to change its mind about opening up next week, and Boris and Sajid Javid saying, no, no, it’s all fine, nothing to see here…. except the Health Secretary has succumbed to COVID himself today.

For a second consecutive day the daily infection rate is over 50k – 54,674 people having tested positive for the virus; 41 people having died in the community and, on 13 July, 740 people having been admitted to hospital with the dreaded lurgy. It’s not getting much better, is it, folks? Is this what they mean about ‘living with COVID’? What a disaster.

I’m saying prayers for all those affected by the virus in whatever way they may be, as well as all those who are suffering hardship today – especially all those who have been traumatised by the floods in Germany and Belgium. ‘Let’s use less plastic’ was the slogan we saw on our journey to and from Birmingham today. Well, it’d be a start, wouldn’t it? But is it too late?

Take care everyone. God bless.

We woke up to the most marvellous blue sky this morning and the sun shining in through the window. I had set my alarm for early, keen to get going as I had a lot to do. In the end, however, I waited until John brought me a cuppa, and I didn’t winkle myself out of bed until just gone 8 o’clock.

I left John in bed to nurse his problematic ribs and research possible diagnoses and cures. I hurtled through my list of jobs as best I could, for I had an aim in mind. The aim was to get a bag packed, the car filled with petrol and food prepped ready for an overnight stay ‘oop North’ tomorrow night.

Naturally, I only did one out of the three planned tasks. The packing and petrol-filling will have to wait until tomorrow. We are going to Withernsea Lighthouse to look at an exhibition of shards of exquisite pottery, found on Withernsea beach, and their equally exquisite facsimiles, created from cloth and stitch. It may not sound much but I am really looking forward to it.

By lunchtime, a lot of my jobs had been completed, so I plated up a lovely lunch and we sat outside on the patio to eat it. Oh, my. We enjoyed that. The warmth of the sun on our faces, the freshness of a lovely salad, a soft breeze and the gentle birdsong was just lovely. We both felt a relief to be able to sit out at last and not feel the cold. The only thing missing was a glass of chilled Pinot Grigio or Chablis – now that would have just rounded it off.

After lunch, we hopped in the car, put the roof down and drove over to Kenilworth, with the wind in our hair, to drop a parcel in to Harriet. She was at their old house, which is not yet sold, accompanied by Ellie. They were having a clear out, tidy up and clean round. All to get it ready for an Estate Agent to come and take photos to get it on the market.

They were pleased to have an enforced break though, and we all sat outside in the garden, sunning ourselves and idly chatting as we did so. It was delightful and easy. Loved it.

Home again, and I left John in the lounge, armchair tilted back ready for him to settle into, while I sat at the computer upstairs and cobbled together tonight’s quiz for which we were Quiz Masters. I had started setting the quiz a few weeks ago, but with one thing and another, we had aborted our Quiz Master’s responsibilities while John was in hospital and I hadn’t picked it up since. It worked quite well though, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves this evening. I certainly did – but then, I am always delighted to see my friends. But a question: Without looking it up, do you know what the collective noun for a group of giraffes is?

On a different note, there’s just 42,302 people who tested positive for the Coronavirus in the last 24 hours, I understand. (Please note the sarcasm….) Nothing to see here, clearly – except that even in Balsall Common the incidence of infection has doubled in the last week, with 30 cases in the village now. Coventry has suspended bin collections for garden waste due to so many of its staff self-isolating, too.

49 people died with the virus in the last 24 hours; and 15 people died in hospitals on 12 & 13 July.

More and more people are being admitted to hospital with the virus – on 10 July there 538 admissions.

But hurrah for the NHS which battles on with the vaccination programme: 87.2% of the adult population is now vaccinated with a first dose, and 66.7% have now had both doses.

Take care everyone – it’s a jungle out there. God bless.

Note: No Blog tomorrow.

I was up bright and early this morning to get to Jaime’s yoga session, leaving John in bed. I always look forward to yoga – the classes are always helpful and uplifting. However, this morning, the class was unexpectedly soothing. We are doing Somatics – which is a yoga practice designed to help re-educate our brains in the sensing and moving of muscles.

“Can you feel your calf touching the floor?” Jaime asked, as we set off on our sensory journey. Yes, of course. “And your thigh?” Erm…. well, that was a different matter – was my thigh touching the ground? Do you know, I wasn’t sure. And so it went on, with me realising that actually, I am not always aware of what my body is doing. The class turned out to be very therapeutic, enabling me to put out of mind all those things that worry me. Excellent stuff.

I arrived home to find the garage door open. Oh, had I accidently opened it as I left this morning? Nope. John was in there, wrestling with his car project. Well, that was good news. He was clearly feeling up to it. Except he was a bit disgruntled that he’d lowered the car down on its swanky jack, only to find he’d forgotten to put one of the arms down and bent it in the process. Darn it.

I came indoors and, instead of doing the jobs that I’d planned, I sat down on the sofa and did a few puzzles and ate some chocolate. Hmmm….. chocolate – delicious, but it’s never a good sign really – it means I am overthinking something even if I don’t quite know what it is.

John came in from the garage, wincing with pain. What now? He’d lifted a breezeblock and as he turned to put it down, something snapped around his ribcage and there ensued a rather painful sensation. Oh, dear…… sprained muscle? twisted tendon? cracked rib? Who knows.

Regardless, John was still game for visiting Pete and Dawn this afternoon, and we walked there, albeit slowly. We enjoyed our time there having a good old natter and, because he was sitting down, the ol’ man didn’t feel too bad.

Unexpectedly, Michael had phoned earlier in the day and wondered if we could offer our help in looking after the children for an hour or so, which would be very beneficial, if we had time, please? We rarely say ‘no’ to looking after the children, so after we’d seen Pete and Dawn, we shot over to Sutton Coldfield, with John still game for visiting Michael and Danielle, despite his discomfort. They were having a tidy-up because the photographer from the estate agent is coming to take snapshots of the house and garden tomorrow.

Regrettably, John wasn’t up to doing anything physical when we got there, so watched on, wistfully, as I played with William and Thomas, snatching them from the jaws of the lawn mower as Michael ploughed up and down the lawn. It was very delightful to be there and playing with the children, and John quipped as we left, “Next time you need a hand, Michael, I’m happy to come and bring your Mum and offer her to help.” Made us all chuckle.

On the COVID front, today’s positive count was 36,660. Contrast this with the figures Gail has just sent me from Australia: 118 on Monday and 89 yesterday. They class this as an outbreak and view it as ‘having got out of hand’……

We had 50 deaths today in the community and 15 on 11 & 12 July; Australia had 2 today.

On 7 July hospital admissions rose to 564, with the previous seven days total showing a 50% increase in people having to be admitted.

The vaccination programme continues and we now have 87.3% of the adult population having had their first jab; and 66.4% having had both jabs.

Keep on keeping on, folks. We’re hunkering down from 19 July. God bless.

It’s a Monday and what have we got to look forward to? Oh, another hospital visit! Mind you, this one was a success!

We both felt a bit grumbly at having to trot off to the hospital once again this morning, but this appointment promised to be fairly innocuous – and so it proved, or rather, it proved to be a positive experience for a change.

A while ago, John had visited a standard optician to see if he needed new glasses. The poor optician was so frightened by the state of his eyes, that she decided she wouldn’t do anything until he’d been referred back to the hospital. She wrote a rather good letter to the consultant whom John sees, and the upshot of that, plus a discussion with said consultant, was that an appointment was made for this morning with an Ophthalmic Optician.

Woohoo! She confirmed that a prism in his glasses would help with his daily vision. She duly dispensed a temporary prism which is now firmly fixed to one of the lenses in John’s glasses – and Bingo! The ol’ man can use both of his eyes to see. Result!

Once home, we drifted about for a bit wondering what to do with ourselves. John is feeling a bit low after his hospital stay and extremely frustrated at his lessened ability to do the DIY jobs he so loves. Everything takes a lot longer than normal and generally it takes a big effort.

I offered various options for entertainment, but nothing quite thrilled, so we opted for more DIY – frustration or no frustration. John tackled the lighting under the cupboard that he’d recently put up, and I tackled a bit of painting in the utility room.

I had originally abandoned the duck egg blue I’d been so enamoured of, and had gone out and bought a boring beige instead. However, I was persuaded to carry on with the blue when both Andrew and Michael said they liked it. I took me a good hour in prep as usual, but I did get a full first coat on all the walls and a final second coat on the bits of skirting board that I’d missed out previously ‘cos they were tricky.

John had great success in fixing up the lighting and did a fair bit of pottering about planning and prepping other jobs, too. So not too bad a day really – even if it was more of the same…….

There are more people testing positive for COVID every day – today it was 34,471, with 6 deaths in the community and 4 deaths in hospitals on 11 July. There’s still a lag in the data for hospital admissions – 563 on 6 July – but the vaccination programme is still storming ahead: 87.2% of the adult population having had their first dose, 66.2% having had both doses.

We are expecting advice from the government to plop through the letterbox any day soon, or maybe into the email Inbox, telling John not to go inside any public areas from next Monday – so, no meals out, theatre/cinema trips, gym visits, holidays in hotels, etc. Oh, and also to avoid anyone who hasn’t been inoculated. That’ll be the children then….. Grrr…..Grrr….and double Grrr…. Freedom? Not sure that it looks like freedom to us.

All for now. Take care everyone. God bless.

It wasn’t a normal Sunday, although it started off as one, when I went to church this morning. Soul restored, I thought I was up for anything, but clearly not. Have been a bag of nerves watching Wimbledon and then the Euro football final.

When I got back from church, all refreshed, we realised that we were out of milk, so we took a walk up to the shops. On the way back, John said wistfully, “Having seen the kids yesterday, I don’t suppose any of them will call in today.” I agreed. I doubted we’d see the family today.

However, we’d not long been home when the doorbell rang. It was Paul and Freddie. They’d been swimming and Freddie insisted on calling in on the way home. Well, how very delightful!

They didn’t stay very long, but long enough for Paul to try and sort out why I am having trouble uploading photos to the computer. I am not sure I quite understand it, but I think it helped. Freddie and I played with all the papers that are to be shredded, making a nice little path with them into one of the bedrooms, where we played for a little while.

Soon after, it was time for them to go home. I was sad when they left, especially as Freddie had got upset. Sweets are normally on the menu as a farewell and a ‘travel-home’ treat. However, he was being a bit daft and messing about with a game, so sweets were withdrawn and raisins offered instead. Oh, dear, that didn’t go down well at all. Bless him. Kids, eh?

We had our lunch and then it was time for Wimbledon. I was rooting for the Italian, Berrettini, but I knew Djokovic would win – he is just so very, very good. What an excellent match it was. Thoroughly enjoyed it, but the nerves were heightened because every few minutes I thought Berrettini might just do it. Plenty of time yet though – I am going to keep my eye out for him next year too – he might just do it then.

Then, of course, it’s been the football. The team certainly know how to shred your nerves , don’t they? I couldn’t watch towards the end….. heartbreak for the players and the fans, but what a team. Great manager and great young men who are great role models.

And the daily report on COVID is as follows: 31,772 people tested positive in the last 24 hours; 26 died in the community; 563 people were admitted to hospital on 6 July (I am never sure why there is such a time-lag in reporting these figures, but still…); and just over 87% of the adult population has been vaccinated with the first dose, while 66% have had both doses.

John has had a ‘nothing day’ today, other than the wander to the shops. He started fitting the light to the cupboard that he’d put in the other day, but it was very fiddly and he decided it could wait. Other than that, he spent all afternoon asleep. A tired boy.

That’s all folks, Night, Night. take care and God bless.

Serendipity. This was the word that came to mind today. I checked the meaning in several dictionaries and found it interesting that the meaning was nuanced differently in each one. However, the American Merriam-Webster Dictionary has it defined to how I feel about our day today: the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for.

We had both got up this morning, fairly bleary-eyed and dulled by an imperfect night’s sleep, to view the day ahead as more-than-likely mundane. The only light on the horizon was a possible/probable visit by Paul and Freddie. And even then, we weren’t sure about that – the weather may yet be inclement and the visit might not happen.

We were keen to see the Kenilworth Sleaths, but as the shadow of COVID hung over their household with Lily still self-isolating, we dithered as to what to do. In the end, we had agreed a garden visit would be very favourable today if the weather would hold.

The weather held. The visit was ON. Yippeee!! Oh, my, oh, my, oh my! What delight to see our darling son and grandson just on lunchtime. They had brought a picnic – which was good, because my cupboards are rather bare just now – and we furnished the garden with tables and chairs and rugs and toys, ready to play.

What absolute fun we had! Freddie was a delight. Paul was a delight. How full was my heart! We were all in our element – especially when the Jenga came out – one of Freddie’s favourites!! I am not sure who won, but it wasn’t me…… or Grandpa!!!

We reluctantly waved the Kenilworth Sleaths goodbye just before tea-time, and settled in the lounge for five minutes, when John suggested that we might see what the Crosses were up to this evening. “Shall I give them a ring to to see if they want a get-together?” he asked. “Yes, do,” I said. “It’s such a long time since we’ve seen them and it would be lovely to have a chat.” He rang them and yes, it would be great to see each other. “7.30?” Lovely.

We were just brewing ourselves cup of tea, and thinking what to do for our evening meal, when the phone rang. It was Michael, on his way back from Stratford – and were we in? Yes, of course! Would you like to call in? Please? Well, that’s what they were thinking too, so twenty minutes later, they arrived.

I’d love to say, ‘Here’s a photo of the visit’, but we were so wrapped up in the unexpectedness of it all that I failed to get my camera out……

But, oh my! Another wonderful family visit. Danielle and I zipped up to the shops for a fish ‘n chip supper as a treat, followed unexpectedly by Grandpa and William, who caught us up as we were waiting in the queue.

We played, we chatted, we ate and drank and generally enjoyed each others’ company for a good couple of hours.

Goodness me, this was a wonderfully unexpected treat, to see two of our sons and some, or all, of their families in one afternoon.

And then, of course, we saw Pete and Dawn this evening. Never a dull moment when they are around. Just chit-chat, chit-chat all evening, with hardly a minute to draw breath, on any and every topic you can think of. Love ’em – such dear, dear friends.

When the day started, neither John nor I saw a wonderful day ahead. But crikey, what a valuable and agreeable faculty emerged. It was marvellous. And not only that, but the the sun shone this afternoon. Oof… what more could we want, eh?

I am not going to besmirch our day with thinking about COVID today, so no numbers at the end of the blog as usual. That’s a relief, isn’t it?

And I didn’t watch the Women’s Final at Wimbledon this afternoon – I had more important things to do , after all, but I do know that the Australian, Ashleigh Barty, won. Just as I expected, and just as it should have been.

I’d like to say, with a nod to Candide, ‘All’s well in the world‘ (even though I know it’s not with COVID and stuff) because today, piece after piece of the jigsaw puzzle slotted into place. Such a great boost to our jaded spirits. Very grateful for that.

Take care everyone. God bless.

Oh, and a footnote….. a sparrow hawk swooped over our garden today and landed, high up on the conifer tree, for a good ten minutes, surveying the land around. Fascinating and exciting.